Norway’s conservative opposition wins local elections with nearly 26% of the votes

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s center-right opposition party has won local elections, with the conservatives of former Prime Minister Erna Solberg ahead of the governing Labor Party. The conservative Hoeyre party received 25.9% of the votes in Monday’s elections, up nearly 6 percentage points from the last balloting for local councils. That makes Hoeyre the largest party locally since 1924. For decades, Labor, headed by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, was Norway’s largest. Labor, which ousted Solberg in the 2021 national elections, came in second with 21.7% of the ballots. Local elections in Norway are held every four years. The estimated turnout this year was just above 62%.