Terje Søviknes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor ofBjørnafjorden | |
| Assumed office 19 October 2023 | |
| Deputy | Marie Lunde Bruraøy |
| Preceded by | Trine Lindborg |
| Minister of the Elderly and Public Health | |
| In office 18 December 2019 – 24 January 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Erna Solberg |
| Preceded by | Sylvi Listhaug |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Minister of Petroleum and Energy | |
| In office 20 December 2016 (2016-12-20) – 31 August 2018 (2018-08-31) | |
| Prime Minister | Erna Solberg |
| Preceded by | Tord Lien |
| Succeeded by | Kjell-Børge Freiberg |
| Mayor ofOs | |
| In office 1 September 2018 – 29 October 2019 | |
| Deputy | Marie Lunde Bruarøy |
| Preceded by | Marie Lunde Bruraøy |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| In office October 1999 – 20 December 2016 | |
| Deputy | Lisbeth Lunde Axelsen Børge Lunde Marie Lunde Bruarøy |
| Preceded by | Geirmund Dyrdal |
| Succeeded by | Marie Lunde Bruraøy |
| Second Deputy Leader of theProgress Party | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2019 | |
| Leader | Siv Jensen Sylvi Listhaug |
| Preceded by | Ketil Solvik-Olsen |
| In office 2 May 1999 – 12 February 2001 | |
| Leader | Carl I. Hagen |
| Preceded by | Vidar Kleppe |
| Succeeded by | John Alvheim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-02-28)28 February 1969 (age 56) |
| Political party | Progress |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Bergen University College Norwegian School of Economics |
Terje Søviknes (born 28 February 1969) is a Norwegian politician for theProgress Party who has served as the mayor ofBjørnafjorden since 2023. He previously served asminister of petroleum and energy from December 2016 to August 2018. From December 2019 to January 2020 he was the minister of the elderly and public health. He also serves as the party's second deputy leader since 2019, a post he previously held from 1999 to 2001.
Søviknes was the first politician of his party to become mayor of a Norwegian municipality, namelyOs, Hordaland in 1999, and one of the longest-serving, retaining the position for five consecutive elections until his 2016 government appointment.[1]
Søviknes was born inOs,Norway tometalworker andfisherman Eirik Søviknes (born 1939) and store clerk Gunn Drange (born 1942). He grew up on Søvikneset inLysefjorden.[2] He attended Os Senior high school from 1985 to 1988. He earned a degree inmarine engineering fromBergen College of Engineering in 1992, and later studied at theNorwegian School of Economics.[3]
From 1999 to 2001, Søviknes was the second deputy leader of the Progress Party together withSiv Jensen, and was considered as a possible successor toCarl I. Hagen as leader of the party. He however became controversial after an incident at a party congress in 2001 where he had sexually abused a 16-year-old intoxicated member of theYouth of the Progress Party.[4][5] Søviknes retained his position as mayor of Os (since 1999) and did not lose his local support after the incident.
After first being elected mayor following the1999 local elections, his local party's support subsequently surged from 36.6 to 45.7% (the highest share of votes for the party in a municipality for the election) in the2003 local elections. The success was repeated in the2007 local elections when he was reelected by a landslide. The candidate from theConservative Party who came in second, jokingly commented that "You don't challenge Terje Søviknes in Os."[6] He was yet again reelected in the2011 local elections, this time however by a far lesser margin. This led to speculation that he could be ousted from power by a coalition of the other parties. Søviknes remained in power with the support of the Conservative Party.[7] He won a fifth term at the2015 local elections with 39.5% of the vote.[8] With Os being merged with the neighbouringFusa municipality, Søviknes led his local party into the2019 local elections, securing 32% of the vote in the newBjørnafjorden municipality. Despite this, theLabour Party secured a majority with theCentre Party, with Trine Lindborg ultimately becoming mayor.[9]
Os has since by himself and themedia been seen as a showcase municipality for the Progress Party.[10] This is as he in his first term as mayor achieved fullkindergarten coverage, fullnursing home coverage and started a program of well-being and health journeys toSpain and related locations. It was also established a "full" stop of immigration and a localVinmonopol store.[10] Successful in being consecutively elected as mayor from 2003 to 2007, in this term the main issues was development of thecity centre, betterdrug addiction recovery programs, development of schools and construction of awaterpark.[11] While the municipality was struggling with largedeficits before Søviknes became mayor, this has since been turned into a significantsurplus as of 2004.[12] His successful career as mayor of Os has gained him the nickname the "Wizard of Os" by the media.[13]
On 20 December 2016, Søviknes was appointed Minister of Petroleum and Energy in theSolberg Cabinet, succeeding fellow party memberTord Lien.[14]
In October 2017, he was found to have misinformed theStorting about a controversial petroleum project's finalisation date. The project was scheduled to be finished in 2022, three years after what Søviknes had previously stated.[15]
During his tenure, the government approved for Norway to join theEuropean Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators or Acer in 2018. This faced heavy opposition from people against the EU, even escalating to Søviknes receiving death threats.[16]
He resigned in late August 2018 citing family reasons, and instead returned to become mayor of Os, a position he held for a year until Os was merged withFusa to becomeBjørnafjorden municipality in 2020.[17][18]
In December 2019, Erna Solberg commenced a reshuffle where she appointed Søviknes to become Minister of the Elderly and Public Health succeeding fellow party memberSylvi Listhaug, who had been appointed as Minister of Petroleum and Energy. Like Listhaug, his term was cut short after a month when the Progress Party withdrew from the government, citing conflict within the government about bringing an ISIS associated woman and her sick children home.[19]
Søviknes was re-elected as the party's second deputy leader at the party congress on 5 May 2019, succeedingKetil Solvik-Olsen who didn't stand for re-election citing family reasons.[20] In 2021, following Siv Jensen's announced departure as party leader, Søviknes said he was open to continue as second deputy leader if Listhaug was elected her successor.[21] Listhaug was subsequently elected party leader at the party convention, with Ketil Solvik-Olsen as first deputy leader, while Søviknes was re-elected as second deputy.[22]
He was the Bjørnafjorden Progress Party's mayoral candidate in the2023 local elections. His party became the largest party and soon after announced that they would be working with the Conservatives for the next council term, and that he would become mayor and the Conservatives' Marie Bruarøy deputy mayor.[23] Both officially assumed office on 19 October.[24]
In December 2023, he acknowledged that he had been storing 30lobsters beyond the peacetime deadline of 1 December, which theNorwegian Directorate of Fisheries uncovered during an inspection of his dock on 4 December.[25]
Søviknes married Janniche Askeland in 1998 and they have two children together.[26] In October 2011 they announced that they were separating.[27][28] Søviknes is an avidbridge enthusiast and former president of the Os Bridge Club.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of the Elderly and Public Health 2019–2020 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Minister of Petroleum and Energy 2016–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Second Deputy Leader of theProgress Party 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Second Deputy Leader of theProgress Party 1999–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Civic offices | ||
| Preceded by Trine Lindborg | Mayor ofBjørnafjorden 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by Marie Lunde Bruraøy | Mayor ofOs 2018–2019 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by Geirmund Dyrdal | Mayor ofOs 1999–2016 | Succeeded by Marie Lunde Bruraøy |