List of members of Stortinget 2005–2009

This is a list of the members of "Stortinget", the Norwegian parliament, in the period 2005 to 2009. The members, called "stortingsrepresentanter" in Norwegian, were elected in the Norwegian parliamentary election, 2005 of 12 September 2005.

The parliament convened on 19 October 2005, and the term ends on 30 September 2009.

Voting system

Members to Stortinget are elected based on party-list proportional representation in plural member constituencies ( _no. forholdstallsvalg i flermannskretser). [The voting system is explained in cite book |last=Ryssevik |first=Jostein |title=I samfunnet. Norsk politikk |year=2002 |publisher=Aschehoug |location=Oslo |language=Norwegian |isbn=9788203328527 ] This means that representatives from different political parties, are elected from each constituency. The constituencies are identical to the 19 counties of Norway.

The electorate does not vote for individuals but rather for party lists, with a ranked list of candicates nominated by the party. This means that the person on top of the list will get the seat unless the voter alters the ballot. Parties may nominate candidates from outside their own constituency, and even Norwegian citizens currently living abroad.

The Sainte-Laguë method is used for allocating parliamentary seats to parties. As a result, the percentage of representatives is roughly equal to the nationwide percentage of votes. Still, a party with a high number of votes in only one constituency can win a seat there even if the nationwide percentage is low. This has happened several times in Norwegian history. Conversely, if a party's initial representation in Stortinget is proportionally less than it share of votes, the party may seat more representatives through leveling seats ( _no. utjevningsmandater), provided that the nationwide percentage is above the election threshold ( _no. sperregrense), currently at 4 %. In 2005, 19 seats were allocated via the leveling system.

Overview

A total of 169 representatives were elected, distributed as follows:
*15 to the Socialist Left Party ("Sosialistisk Venstreparti")
*61 to the Labour Party ("Arbeiderpartiet")
*11 to the Centre Party ("Senterpartiet")
*11 to the Christian Democratic Party ("Kristelig Folkeparti")
*10 to the Liberal Party ("Venstre")
*23 to the Conservative Party ("Høyre")
*38 to the Progress Party ("Fremskrittspartiet")

If a representative is absent for whatever reason, his or her seat will be filled by a candidate from the same party-list – in other words, there are no by-elections. Representatives who die during the term are replaced permanently, whereas representatives who are appointed to a government position, such as government minister (cabinet member) or state secretary, will be replaced by a deputy representative until the representative no longer holds the government position. Deputy representatives also meet during typically short-term absence, like when a representative travels abroad with a parliamentary work group or is absent for health reasons.

As of November 2007, when the last changes in member composition took place, the percentage of female representatives is approximately 34 % (see women in politics).

List of representatives

The representatives elected as leveling seats are indicated with a blue background.

References

*cite web |url=http://epos.stortinget.no/MotendeRepresentanter.aspx?sortering=S |title=Representanter og vararepresentanter |accessdate=2007-11-10 |author= |date=last updated 21 October 2007 |work=Official site of the Norwegian Parliament |publisher= |language=Norwegian
**Note: This source also includes deputy representatives who meet in the Parliament for brief and arbitraty periods of time, for instance when a regular representative travels abroad with a parliamentary work group, or is absent for health reasons. Due to the fluctuant nature of such replacements, they should not be included in this list.
**Note: An English version, albeit less informative, exists: cite web |url=http://www.stortinget.no/english/alphabetic.html |title=Alphabetical list of the Members of the Storting |author= |date=last updated 9 November 2007 |work=Official site of the Norwegian Parliament |publisher=