Storting in the context of "King Haakon VII of Norway"

Haakon VII (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈhôːkʊn]; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957) was King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957. Having reigned for nearly 52 years, he was the second longest-reigning monarch in Norwegian history, after Christian IV.

He was born in Copenhagen during the reign of his grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark; he was named Carl at birth and was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark (later King Frederick VIII and Queen Louise). Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, he was offered the Norwegian crown. Following a monarchy referendum, he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting and took the Old Norse name Haakon, thus ascended the throne as Haakon VII, becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since Olav IV in 1387.

The dissolution of the union (Bokmål: unionsoppløsningen; Nynorsk: unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: unionsuppløysingi; Swedish: unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension and fear of an outbreak of war between the neighbouring kingdoms (then in personal union) – and a Norwegian plebiscite held on 13 August which overwhelmingly backed dissolution – negotiations between the two governments led to Sweden's recognition of Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy on 26 October 1905. On that date, King Oscar II renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, effectively dissolving the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and this event was swiftly followed, on 18 November, by the accession to the Norwegian throne of Prince Carl of Denmark, taking the name of Haakon VII.

Vestfold og Telemark (Urban East Norwegian: [ˈvɛ̂stfɔɫ ɔ ˈtêːləmɑrk]; lit. 'Vestfold and Telemark') was a county in Norway, which existed from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023. The county was the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consisted of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. The capital was located in the town of Skien, which was also the county's largest city. While Skien was the seat of the county municipality, the seat of the County Governor was Tønsberg. It bordered the counties of Viken, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder until its dissolution.

Telemark voted against the merger, on the basis that the regions have nothing in common and do not constitute a natural geographical, cultural, social or political entity. Regardless, the Storting voted on 7 January 2018 to merge the counties by force, and the merger took effect on 1 January 2020. Unlike Telemark or Vestfold, it does not form a traditional or cultural region, but is instead administrative.

Erna Solberg (Norwegian: [ˈæ̀ːɳɑ ˈsûːlbærɡ]; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and was the Leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2025. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004.

Solberg was first elected to the Storting in 1989, and served as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development in Bondevik's Second Cabinet from 2001 to 2005. During her tenure, she oversaw the tightening of immigration policy and the preparation of a proposed reform of the administrative divisions of Norway. After the 2005 election, she chaired the Conservative Party parliamentary group until 2013. Solberg has emphasized the social and ideological basis of Conservative policies, though the party also has become visibly more pragmatic.

The Constitution of Norway (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish: Kongeriget Norges Grundlov; Norwegian Bokmål: Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov; Norwegian Nynorsk: Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll. The latter date is the National Day of Norway; it marks the establishment of the constitution.

It is the fourth oldest written single-document national constitution in Europe after the Constitution of Poland, the French constitution of 1791, and the Spanish Constitution of 1812. The document is also the second oldest working national constitution in the world, after the Constitution of the United States. In May 2014, the Storting passed the most substantial changes since 1814, particularly by including paragraphs on human rights.

The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature, the Storting, elected within a multi-party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive branch and the legislature.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Norway a "full democracy" in 2022. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Norway was 2023 the second most electoral democratic country in the world. Reporters Without Borders ranked Norway 1st in the world in the 2024 Press Freedom Index. Freedom House's 2020 Freedom in the World report classified Norway as "free", scoring maximum points in the categories of "political rights" and "civil liberties".

The prime minister of Norway (Norwegian: statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the monarch, to the Storting (Parliament of Norway), to their political party, and ultimately the electorate. In practice, since it is nearly impossible for a government to stay in office against the will of the Storting, the prime minister is primarily answerable to the Storting. The prime minister is almost always the leader of the majority party in the Storting, or the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition.

Norway has a constitution, which was adopted on 17 May 1814. The position of prime minister is the result of legislation. Modern prime ministers have few statutory powers, but provided they can command the support of their parliamentary party. Prime ministers control both the legislature and the executive (the cabinet) and hence wield considerable de facto powers. As of 2021 the prime minister of Norway is Jonas Gahr Støre, of the Labour Party, replacing Erna Solberg of Conservative Party, who resigned in October 2021.

A referendum regarding the choice of the new monarch was held in Norway on 12 and 13 November 1905. Voters were asked whether they approved of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly self-ruling country. The Storting had wanted to offer the throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, but the prince insisted that the Norwegian people had a chance to decide if they wanted him to be the future King or not.

The proposal was approved by 79% of voters. Following the referendum, the Storting formally offered the throne to Carl on 18 November; Carl accepted, assuming the throne as King Haakon VII. The new royal family arrived in Norway on 25 November. King Haakon and Queen Maud were crowned in a ceremony in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 22 June 1906. Haakon became Norway's first separate monarch in 518 years.