The Norwegian Green Party, "Miljøpartiet de Grønne," is a small party with some pockets of local fortitude, but no presence in national parliament. Although environmental consciousness is fairly well developed in Norway, several other parties in our multi-party system have been developing environmental policies for many years.

Environmental election lists were organised in many places in Norway in the '70s and '80s, some taking names like "Green Party" or "Green List." At the local elections in 1987, a group of academics presented several lists under the name of "the Greens" and gained 1 seat in the district council of Akershus, near Oslo, while another group also called "the Greens" won 4 seats in the town of Halden.

Encouraged by these moderate successes, a number of local environmental voter-alliances got in contact with each other. After innumerable meetings, a nationwide party was formed in the autumn of 1988. The new party held its first official congress in the spring 1989. The meeting was held in an old school building in the countryside, far from the political centres. The fifty-odd delegates, mostly young people, slept on the floor, adopted a 50-page political programme and announced their intention of presenting lists in all constituencies for the upcoming elections. The voters did not seem very interested, however. At the general elections, just 0,5% of the voters used the Green lists. No Greens entered parliament, the environmental votes going instead to the SV (Socialist Left).

In the world of environmental organisations, the new party was considered a competitor and not an ally. Internal splits also became apparent-some personal, some political and some both.

In the local elections in 1991, the Greens entered a number of local councils, mainly in medium-sized cities and towns, but the parliamentary elections in 1993 were downright depressing. Even prominent party members did not vote for the Greens, but for SP (the agrarian Centre Party) or the SV, in order to strengthen the number of anti-EU seats in parliament. Votes for the Green Party slumped to 0,1%!

During the local elections in 1995, things picked up a bit. The Greens kept their seats and even gained a couple of new seats in places like Tromsoe, but there was no break-through in Oslo, which is where political news is made. At the general elections in September 2001 MDG ended up with 0,2 % of the votes, just like at the previous general election. At local elections the results are generally a bit better.

The Norwegian Green Party has established itself in a number of local communities, but made no impact on the national political scene. Local groups, including youth groups, come and go, but our overall presence has remained stuck at roughly the same level the last ten years.

In the 2005 national elections the Norvegian Greens obtained 0,23 of the votes. 

National Government: Majority coalition of AP (Labour), SV (Socialist Left), and SP (Center Party).

Parties Represented in National Parliament: FrP (Progress Party), Høyre (Conservative), Venstre (Liberal), KrF (Christian Democrats), in addition to the ruling parties.

Next National Elections: 2009

Latest Green Party Election Results:

• National Election Year: 2005
  MPs:
  Total No. National Votes: 3700
  % Gained: 0,23
• Local Election Year: 2007
  Votes nation wide: 12 234
  0.6
  Local councillors: 6