A record number of people joined Norway’s Red Party last year

The Red Party’s (Rødt’s) membership increased by as much as 25% last year. The Socialist Left Party (SV) and the Green Party (MDG) also registered new membership records.

The number of Rødt members increased from 10,533 in 2020 to 13,173 at the end of 2021. This corresponds to a growth of 25%.

“The growth has come steadily, but we got an extra push around the election,” Rødt Party Secretary Benedikte Pryneid Hansen told NTB.

On election night alone, the party gained around 1,000 new members.

“We have become a party that can put pressure on the government. Many notice that we can make a difference,” Hansen said.

New records

The SV also set a new membership record last year with 16,927 members and grew by 10.7%. The membership has now increased for seven years in a row, the party informed NTB.

“The SV has had a formidable membership growth in recent years. This is a result of the fact that fair distribution and the environment are issues that more and more people are concerned about, and of good organizational development in the party,” SV leader Audun Lysbakken said.

“We are proud of another year with a new membership record; it shows that more and more people see the SV as an important force for change in Norwegian politics,” he stated.

The MDG, on the other hand, rose by just over 20% to 12,370 members at the end of last year. In the last eight years, the party’s membership has almost doubled, according to figures obtained by NTB.

According to the party’s press manager Thomas Tangen, the Liberal Party (Venstre) registered a membership growth of 11% last year, from 6,325 to 7,048 paying members.

The Center Party (SP), which has just over 20,000 members, registered almost no membership increase, while the Labor Party, the Conservative Party, the Progress Party, and the Christian Democrats have not revealed their membership numbers yet.

Not afraid to push

Rødt’s party secretary believes that much of the growth is due to people being dissatisfied with what the government has delivered so far, including the electricity crisis.

However, Rødt is not worried about undermining its preferred government project by pushing the government too hard, according to Pryneid Hansen.

“We have to deliver on what we have said we would deliver. We have been very clear that we demand non-profit welfare, that we demand a fair solution to the corona crisis that does not increase the differences between people,” she said.

“Our goal is to pull the government in the right direction,” she added and reminded that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) has previously said that he would like to have a dialogue with Rødt.

“We have not heard anything yet. But our door is open,” she said.

Increase in the polls

Both Rødt and the SV have made progress in the opinion polls after the election. In December, Rødt received 5.9% of voter support on average, 1% more than its election result. In the last poll in January, the party noted a further increase to 7.1%.

Since the election, support for the SV has increased by 1.2% to 8.8%.

The MDG, on the other hand, has fallen by around 0.5% from September to January.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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