On Saturday 18 March, Kirsti Bergstø was elected as the new leader of SV.

He took over from the popular SV leader for eleven years, who however never succeeded in taking the SV to the heights the party had reached under its predecessor.

By contrast, Audun Lysbakken’s party experienced its lowest support since 1981, when in June in both 2014 and 2015 they were at the survey’s average support of 3.5 percent.

And while SV under predecessors Kristin Halvorsen, party leader from 1997 to 2012, and Erik Solheim, party leader from 1987 to 1997, peaked at 20.9 and 17.8 percent, respectively, Lysbakken’s peak was half that, 9, 5 percent in April 2021 .

It shows one Norce researcher Hilmar Rommetvedt’s review was conducted.

In the April Altinget and ABC Nyheter poll, slightly ahead of Easter, SV had 8.1 percent support, down 1.1 percent from the last poll during Lysbakken. The background figures also show that the loyalty percentage – which indicates how many voters in the last election would still vote for the current party – is 54 percent. Used to be around 70 for SV.

Thus there is no national meeting effect for SV. There is no Bergstø effect.

Rocke results

Instead, it seems like voters are asking the party to do the same thing that Kirsti Bergstø Kjell Inge Røkke asked in her national assembly address on her second day as party leader: Ryke og reise!

Bergstø’s results against the seventh richest man in Norway – according Capitaland good for just over NOK 45 billion – generating a lot of debate, and a lot of criticism.

The question is whether it was wise for SV to engage in Rødt’s behavior

“Røkke robbed the coast and fled to Switzerland. He can smoke and travel for me!”, said the new SV leader.

“We love to shout insults and moralize about those who have moved. A wiser approach is to understand the reasons why they are moving and ask ourselves: Could Norway’s tax system be designed in a better way?’ answered Civita manager Kristin Clemet, for example.

NATO and a willingness to compromise

Opinion Adviser Martin Stubban doubted that the results against Røkke and the tax evasion and wealth tax defense were the reasons for the lack of a Bergstø effect following the change of party chairman in SV.

“That’s a harsh word, but, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think your electorate is reacting too much to an SV leader being tough on the rich,” he told ABC Nyheter.

Stubban instead points to another aspect of the national assembly and the change of party chairman:

“It’s inconceivable that it has anything to do with the national assembly. Voters may be unsure of Kirsti Bergstø and her willingness to compromise. The SV is also adopting a new stance towards NATO, in that they no longer support withdrawal. That may leave some core older voters unconvinced” .

SV vs. Red vs. Labor Party

Kirsti Bergstø has an apparently tougher expression than Lysbakken, not least because the Bergen native emerged after she took over as party leader on 26 March 2012 – three weeks after she had to step down as minister after irregularly giving Jenteforsvaret, the newly formed Socialist Youth subgroup (SU), grant NOK 154,000. It can humble you a little.

SV competes with Rødt for the electorate on the left. There are few differences between the parties – apart from Ukraine and NATO now – but SV has made a stronger mark on the environment and climate, while Rødt has become a stronger voice for workers’ rights and taxed richer people.

The question is whether it was wise for SV to engage in Rødt’s behavior. The question is whether this is a voter battle they can win.

Even so, there are still 16.2 percent of Ap voters’ points to fight for.

(Voices is ABC Nyheter’s debating section. Here regular and occasional contributors write on current news topics. We also work with political online newspapers Altinget. no . If you are passionate about an opinion or analysis, you can send a text to stemmer@abcnyheter.no, and we will consider it).