LO union representative Richard Storevik resigned in protest, but is now back in the PA. He defends Jonas Gahr Støre, but believes Trond Giske embraces many leftists in the party.
The 20-member Labor Party’s powerful central council is meeting on Monday afternoon after crisis polls fell as low as 16.9 per cent.
This set off the alarm throughout the party apparatus.
At the same time, there was a lot of fire in the tent before the weekend, when the leader of the AUF, live on NRK, launched a frontal attack on Trond Giske, which she means to destroy for the party.
Former deputy leader Giske is now the local team leader of Ap-laget Nidaros in Trondheim and has experienced explosive growth in membership – not last after ON-attack.
Adjust the course
VG has been in contact with a wide range of sources both inside and outside the central government.
They point out that the discussion is now going in two main directions:
- One is about the policy itself, to see if it should be adapted.
- The second concerns communication to voters and party work.
The sources underline that in any case it is not a question of making major policy changes, but that in some areas it is seen that it will be necessary to adjust the course a bit.
Ahead of the central council meeting, where a discussion of the party’s position is expected to take place at this time, few want to be open about the way forward.
Outside and Inside
But one person who has clear views is the high-profile leader of the Fellesforbundet in Bergen, Richard Storevik.
In 2019, the Leirvik trade union AS resigned from the Labor Party because it believed the party no longer had an industrial policy with which he could live.
Today he’s back to partying. He usually says what he means. Even when it comes to 16.9 percent in the latest Ap survey.
Freder Store
But Bergen’s union teddy bear appeases the boss.
– I do not deny that I was critical when Jonas became leader of the party, he with his past. He wasn’t my type. But I’ve met him several times and got to know him a little bit and what he stands for. I like him. He has shown that he is a comrade I trust and that he is the right man for the party.
Adds:
– If he has enough good advisers around him, I have more doubts.
Although he has found the social democratic tone with Støre, Storevik is critical of some of the party leadership’s handling of several issues this fall.
– He has cost support, but I think Jonas handled covid, war, electricity crisis and the fight against rising interest rates well. But then they run into problems, like proposed cuts to the unemployment benefit scheme, he says.
And he points out that it’s like giving away voters.
– They should realize that it’s an issue they need to lose and that gains support for SV. We come back and give completely useless political victories to others, says Storevik.
He gives Støre the following advice: from the ring.
– I think a little of what my boxing teacher often told me: you have to tiptoe forward and be offensive. I think that’s good advice for Jonas. He has to show what our party wants.
The union summit in Bergen says it is important that Støre and his people have contact with the grassroots of the party and the union movement, so that the party’s policy has had to face the reality at the grassroots.
– Guess the hits
He says Oslo can think what it wants about Trond Giske, but it’s striking.
– My experience is that Trond has good support on the left side of the party, even if he only leads one party team in Trondheim.
He didn’t like the way the AUF attacked Giske during the debate last week: an attack Støre the following morning gave his full support.
– I think it helps push even more voters away from the PA. Trond represents a political line that many people like. I experienced it myself recently, he says:
– We had a board meeting the other day and three of the board members argued that we should bring Giske to a meeting, to talk about what they did to go from zero to over 1400 members in the Ap Nidaros team.
– Does the AUF leader point out that there are many girls who still struggle to participate in the public sphere on behalf of the PA?
– I have deep respect for that. At the same time, we cannot exclude that there are many in the PA who like his political message and that in a moment of such low consensus we should be careful of statements that could divide our party.
Collection request
Frode Fjeldsbø in Rogaland calls for a rally.
– The polls are terribly bad, this affects the entire party organization. There are many things that come into play here. One thing is the crisis and the war in Europe and the post-pandemic, and the other is politics. Voters do not perceive the clear PA they expected to see.
– What’s the solution?
– One important thing is that now we are actually trying to be one party and not many at the same time, so we have to unite.
County leader Lise Selnes in Innlandet wants unity and a safe course.
– Crisis investigations in a time of crisis require constant further political work and a broad understanding of the time of crisis we are in by all of us. Inlandet Arbeiderparti held an organizational conference at the weekend, the message was clear, steady course and unity!
