| Summary: | The aim of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of national trends and local variations at the 2019 local elections – the first elections to be held in the new, merged municipalities and counties. Looking at the nationwide results, the government parties as well as the Labour Party suffered losses, while the other opposition parties – especially the Centre Party – were the winners. While welfare policy has been high on the voter agenda in previous elections, the environment and climate change were the most important issues this time, especially among young voters. The voter agenda nevertheless varied between municipalities. Climate and the environment were, like the issue of toll roads, most important in the cities. In many peripheral districts, on the other hand, amalgamation of municipalities and other centralizing public sector reforms were significant issues. The centre-periphery dimension is still important in Norwegian politics, and it has contributed to the Centre Party’s gains – particularly in a number of former Labour Party strongholds in northern Norway. Local conditions also contribute to variation. Looking at results from individual municipalities, local deviations from the national trend have increased. Moreover, an increasing share of voters says that local issues were important for their vote. publishedVersion
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