Government of Gerhardsen III

The Gerhardsen III government was formed in Norway on January 22, 1955 by Einar Gerhardsen and existed until August 28, 1963. As Prime Minister, Gerhardsen replaced the government of his party friend Oscar Torp .

After the electoral success of the Labor Party in the parliamentary elections of October 12, 1953, he had 46.7 percent of the vote and a narrow absolute majority of 77 of the 150 seats in the Storting . In the parliamentary elections that followed on October 6, 1957 , Gerhardsen's Arbeiderpartiet was able to slightly expand its lead over the opposition and received 48.3 percent and 78 parliamentary seats. However, the workers' party lost this absolute majority in the parliamentary elections on September 11, 1961 when it only received 46.8 percent and 74 seats. In the period that followed, the government therefore had to rely on the voting behavior of the Sosialistisk Folkeparti (SF), whose two MPs, Finn Gustavsen and Asbjørn Holm, "tipped the scales".

After the so-called Kings Bay affair about deficiencies in the state coal mining company Kings Bay, the two socialist MPs withdrew their support from the Gerhardsen government, so that Gerhardsen had to resign on August 28, 1963 after more than eight years in office. This paved the way for Norway's first bourgeois government after World War II, led by Prime Minister John Lyng of the conservative Høyre . However, this coalition broke up after less than four weeks on September 25, 1963 and Gerhardsen was then able to form his fourth government .

minister

Department	minister	Political party
Prime Minister	Einar Gerhardsen	Workers' part
Exterior	Halvard Lange	Workers' part
Justice and Police	Jens Christian Hauge November 1st, 1955 Jens Haugland	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Municipalities and work	Ulrik Olsen September 1, 1958 Andreas Zeier Cappelen February 4, 1963 Oskar Skogly	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
defense	Nils Handal February 18, 1961 Gudmund Harlem	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Social	Squeegee Seweriin August 1, 1955 Gudmund Harlem February 18, 1961 Olav Bruvik December 30, 1962 Aase Bjerkholt February 4, 1963 Olav Gjærevoll	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Churches and teaching	Birger Bergersen April 23, 1960 Helge Sivertsen	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Industry	Gustav Sjaastad April 9, 1959 Kjell Holler July 4, 1963 Trygve Lie	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Agriculture	Olav Meisdalshagen May 14, 1956 Harald Johan Løbak April 23, 1960 Einar Wøhni	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Trade and shipping	Arne Skaug January 13, 1962 OC Gundersen	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
fishing	Nils Lysø	Workers' part
Transport and communication	Kolbjørn Varmann April 23, 1960 Trygve Bratteli	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Finance and Customs	Mons Lid December 28, 1956 Trygve Bratteli April 23, 1960 Petter Jakob Bjerve February 4, 1963 Andreas Zeier Cappelen	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet
Families and consumers	December 21, 1956 Aase Bjerkholt	Workers' part
Wages and prices	August 1, 1955 Gunnar Bråthen April 9, 1959 Gunnar Bøe September 1, 1962 Karl Trasti	Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet Arbeiderpartiet

Web links

• Regjeringen.no Official website of the Norwegian government
• Government Gerhardsen III overview on the government website

Remarks

1. ↑ From August 23 to October 15, 1957, Arne Skaug acted as acting foreign minister during a lengthy illness of Lange
2. ↑ Aase Bjerkholt was previously the Minister without Portfolio for Family and Consumer Affairs from August 1, 1955 to December 21, 1956

literature

• Noregs regjeringar. Statsrådar, statssekretærar, politiske rådgjevarar , ed. from the State Chancellery, Oslo 2003