Gaute Skjervø was appointed as the new leader of the AUF

Gaute Skjervø believes that the Labor Party does not have a long-term goal. Now he will be the new director of AUF.

– Are you from Trøndelag?

The question comes immediately from the man who was announced as the new leader of the AUF. The reflex to find community seems to be loose in the trønder.

Gaute Skjervø from Levanger is skeptical about the idea that the mother party will get support up to the 40s. From Sunday, his job will probably be to bark at the parent party about what it takes to get there.

Skjervø believes that Ap has no long-term goal.

– The message is good that people should get better advice. But it is short term. You need to have a bigger long-term goal. Where are we going in 20 years? 50 years?

For him, the answer is clear: that every young person in the welfare state should have the opportunity to succeed. And the way to do that is to reduce inequality.

He believes that the Støre government cannot be satisfied with the work to reduce economic inequality and he refers in particular to housing policy.

– We need to take power back from those who benefit from the housing sector as it is today.

There is concern that Ap has turned Conservative

Skjervø is afraid that the Labor Party was scared by the noise surrounding the introduction of the salmon tax.

– There were strong forces that strongly disagreed. But it was and is a big business that made big profits. That money would have to be redistributed and we can do that in several sectors.

He is concerned that the Labor Party, because of the right, does not speak loudly enough about housing policy and other political areas.

– They are afraid to say it out loud. I am concerned that Ap buys the idea that things are going badly in Norwegian business, which the right to distribute.

He thinks it’s a political bluff.

– We talk far too little about the families with children who at least think it is expensive. About Kiwi and Rema who take the blood price at the top of the price increase. About the banks that charge a price in addition to the interest rate. About the tight housing market.

– I think we have to talk in a completely different way to the foundation on the left.

He says that Einar Gerhardsen has never received more than 50 percent of the vote and that there will always be half of Norwegians who will not vote for the Labor Party.

– I feel that we are too often talking to the part of the side that did not vote for Gerhardsen. I don’t think they will vote for the Labor Party today either.

It must be the movement, not the system

It quickly becomes the buzzword of youth leaders. Even at the age of 29, Skjervø still has a youthful faith in politics.

And it is a powerful position that he will get as the leader of the AUF. He will sit on the main board of the Labor Party and lead a group that often hits the ground running in nominations and elections.

– AUF has no Ministry of Finance to answer. And it is a life risk for AUF if we become Unge Høyre and start talking about our most important work to ensure that AS-Norge goes to zero.

The mother party has been in crisis for a long time. Poor polls, frequent changes in government and personal focus have characterized the party. This week Aftenposten published one poll where the party has never been underestimated in the capital.

For Skjervø, it is important that the party finds its way back to its roots.

– The Labor Party is too often associated with NRK, LO, the state, the government and the system itself. But we must not be the system. The Labor Party must be the workers’ way of influencing the system.

He believes that the government has so far done a lot right. How to influence the school in the right direction. It pays tribute to Kari Nessa Nortun’s work to cut down screen time in school and the agreement with Russian time.

He also believes that they have done a lot of good for children by making day care and after school education more affordable.

But as the director of AUF, he is not completely satisfied after all the work.

– When we were settled, we agreed that we should be the salt of the party. We have to be the ones who screw things up. When the Labor Party is not clear enough, we must be clear.

For the record: The author of this article is not from Trønder, but from Nordmøring.