electionstracker

Norway 1981 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1981 parliamentary election in Norway?

Labour Party won 65 of 155 seats with 37.2% of the vote. 82.0% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Norway
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Labour Party won 65 of 155 seats with 37.2% of the vote; 82.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 0.9 points on 1977.

  • Labour Party 65 −11 seats 37.2% −5.1 points
  • Conservative Party 54 +13 seats 31.7% +6.9 points
  • Christian Democratic Party 15 −7 seats 8.9% −3.5 points
  • Socialist Left Party 4 +2 seats 4.9% +0.7 points
  • Progress Party 4 +4 seats 4.5% +2.6 points
  • Centre Party 11 −1 seat 7.3% −1.3 points
  • Liberal Party 2 0 seats 3.9% +0.7 points
  • Red Electoral Alliance 0 0.7%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Norway 1977 parliamentary election, party by party.

78 of 155 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 37.2%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 65 of 155 seats. A majority needs 78.

  2. +13 seats

    Seats gained by Conservative Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1977. Labour Party lost 11 seats.

  3. 82.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 0.9 points on 1977.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party65−1137.2−5.1914,749
Conservative Party54+1331.7+6.9780,372
Christian Democratic Party15−78.9−3.5219,179
Socialist Left Party4+24.9+0.7121,561
Progress Party4+44.5+2.6109,564
Centre Party11−17.3−1.3103,753
Liberal Party203.9+0.797,343
Red Electoral Alliance00.718,602

± is the change against the Norway 1977 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 914,749
  • Conservative Party 780,372
  • Christian Democratic Party 219,179
  • Socialist Left Party 121,561
  • Progress Party 109,564
  • Centre Party 103,753
  • Liberal Party 97,343
  • Red Electoral Alliance 18,602

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

82.0% of the 3,003,093 registered voters cast a ballot (2,462,142 ballots), down 0.9 points on 1977. 2,458,755 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party37.2% of votes41.9% of seats
  • Conservative Party31.7% of votes34.8% of seats
  • Christian Democratic Party8.9% of votes9.7% of seats
  • Centre Party7.3% of votes7.1% of seats
  • Socialist Left Party4.9% of votes2.6% of seats
  • Progress Party4.5% of votes2.6% of seats
  • Liberal Party3.9% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 5.0 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.9 by votes and 3.2 by seats; Labour Party led Conservative Party by 5.5 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of