Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation of the municipalities of Søgne and Songdalen into the greater Kristiansand municipality. In addition to the city itself, Statistics Norway counts four other densely populated areas in the municipality: Skålevik in Flekkerøy with a population of 3,526 in the Vågsbygd borough, Strai with a population of 1,636 in the Grim borough, Justvik with a population of 1,803 in the Lund borough, and Tveit with a population of 1,396 in the Oddernes borough. Kristiansand is divided into five boroughs: Grim, which is located northwest in Kristiansand with a population of 15,000; Kvadraturen, which is the centre and downtown Kristiansand with a population of 5,200; Lund, the second largest borough; Søgne, with a population of around 12,000 and incorporated into the municipality of Kristiansand as of January 2020; Oddernes, a borough located in the west; and Vågsbygd, the largest borough with a population of 36,000, located in the southwest.
Carl-Ivar Hagen is a Norwegian politician and former Vice President of the Storting, the Norwegian parliament. He was the leader of the Progress Party from 1978 to 2006, when he stepped down in favour of Siv Jensen. Under his leadership, he was the undisputed leader and, in many ways, personally controlled its ideology and policies.
Odd Reinsfelt was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party and meteorologist.
The Democrats, formerly and distinctly known as the Democrats in Norway, is a national conservative political party in Norway without parliamentary representation.
Herman Friele is a Norwegian businessman and politician for the Conservative Party. He has been chairman of the coffee manufacturer Friele since 1981, as the seventh generation Friele in charge of the company. He was the highly popular mayor of Bergen from 2003 to 2007.
Peter Skovholt Gitmark is a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Vest-Agder in the Storting, first elected in 2005. He was elected a reserve candidate in the previous period, but took Ansgar Gabrielsen's place when Gabrielsen was a cabinet minister.
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 10 September 2007, with some areas polling on 9 September as well. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently. In addition, several municipalities held direct mayoral elections.
Gunnar Johannes Viken is a Norwegian dairy farmer and politician for the Conservative Party. Since 2007 he has been county mayor of Nord-Trøndelag County Municipality.
Henrik Asheim is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He was leader of the Norwegian Young Conservatives from 2008 to 2012, and Minister of Higher Education from 2020 to 2021. He has also been an MP for Akershus since 2013 and the party’s first deputy leader since 2022.
Harald Sødal is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party.
Frank Bakke-Jensen is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He served as minister of defence from 2017 to 2021, and minister of European affairs from 2016 to 2017. He was mayor of Båtsfjord from 2007 until his election to the Storting from Finnmark in 2009. Bakke-Jensen formerly worked as a ship's electrician between Hammerfest and Tromsø, and has also worked as a teacher and self-employed pilot at Båtsfjord Airport. He has also performed military service in the UN Lebanon conflict.
Rune Øygard is a former Norwegian politician representing the Norwegian Labour Party, who served as mayor of Vågå from 1995 to 2012 when he was granted leave following his indictment for child sexual abuse in a much publicized case, the so-called Vågå case. On 17 December 2012, he was found guilty of child sexual abuse, including sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl, and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. The same day, he resigned as mayor.
Mudassar Hussain Kapur is a Norwegian politician. He is a member of the Conservative Party and has served as a member of the Storting for Oslo since 2013.
Helge André Njåstad is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Hordaland in 2013 where he serves as the chair of the Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration. He was mayor of Austevoll from 2003 to 2013.
Stein Reinertsen is a Norwegian Lutheran clergyman who since January 2013 has been bishop in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark of the Church of Norway.
Local elections were held in Norway on 14 September 2015. Voters elected representatives to municipal and county councils, which are responsible for education, public transport, health, and elderly care, and for the levy of certain taxes. The Labour Party became the largest party, gaining 33% of the vote, while the nationally governing Conservative and Progress parties suffered losses relative to their performances in the 2013 parliamentary and 2011 local elections.
Sigbjørn Gjelsvik is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2017. He has also served as minister of local government since 2022.
Hans Inge Myrvold is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party.
Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He is currently serving as the party's deputy leader since 2019. He has also served as minister of fisheries since 2021. He previously served as mayor of Lurøy from 2011 to 2015.
Karianne Bråthen is a Norwegian politician.
