Norwegian General Election 13 September 2021

[Oryxslayer]

Which faction of the Labour Party is Jonas Gahr Støre considered to belong in? More to the left-labour wing or the more third way side? Or perhaps even a bridge candidate between the two factions?

Also, how did he remain at the helm after 2017. I remember looking at the results on my phone in Uni and thinking that an inability to either reverse Labour's decline or win control through a left government meant ouster.

[Oryxslayer]

Why did Sp's vote share plunge over the past few weeks? They've plunged from 18% to 13%; where are these voters going? Sp's decline doesn't match up with any other party making major gains; are they going to "undecided"?

Apparently they failed to present themselves as a viable alternative during the debates and campaign, which led to them tumbling back down to their normal percentages. As noted though the voters are undecided, which could simply mean "Sp but not as enthusiastic or committed as before."

On Vosem's point, it just feels like it is time for the government to change hands and has run its course. Sp is a great illustrator of this: their surge demonstrated peoples reaction to government policies and a desire for change to something different. Of course rather than their momentum carrying Sp to first place it appears to have collapsed, but the desires that pushed the party forward are still there within the electorate.

[Oryxslayer]

So Norway's going red, Germany's about to go red and soon one in three citizens of democratic European countries will live in a country with a Social Democratic government, compared to one in 10 at the end of 2018.

It's over guys, the left is dying, Social Democracy is dying. Muh. Global. Trends.

Except it is - or at least Social Democratic parties are. This is still among Ap's worst results ever, even though they are winning. The SPD in Germany aren't going to gain that many votes and still will have a horrible result when compared to history, the Union's just fallen below them.

What has changed, and is happening in all these countries is that other parties who consider themselves "left" but not "social democratic" or "labor aligned" are on the rise. These includes Greens, Communists/Radicals, Reformist Liberals, and left-populists. Which is honestly natural and makes perfect sense given parliamentary fragmentation, the increasing education of reformist voters, and increasing concern/urgency about climate change. And these parties are happy to support "left" govts, if there are the numbers.