The Labor Party leader has started the summer holidays in Sørlandet.
– This place was bought by my grandfather in 1950. And my family has been here ever since. So I grew up being here this summer, and it is still one of the best things I can do, says Jonas Gahr Støre to TV 2.
– SUMMER HOLIDAY: Jonas Gahr Støre enjoys his holiday in Sørlandet Photo: Daniel Sannum Lauten / TV 2
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He takes a sip of his coffee and looks out through Kilsundet, which lies between Tvedestrand and Arendal, straight into the open Skagerak.
He tells of when the British Navy, led by the liner DS “Dictator”, chased the Danish-Norwegian frigate “Najaden”, and later sank it at Lyngør harbor on 6 July 1812.
– DREAM PLACE: Støre has been on holiday in Kilsund all his childhood. Here with his wife Marit Slagsvold.
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– What did you learn from the election defeat in 2017?
– The election in 2017 was a real downturn, and we also took it very seriously. I was concerned that we had to go through everything and what we experienced from it. We had thorough soul-searching rounds in the party.
– Why is it different this time?
– I think we are much better prepared now than four years ago. Both politically and organizationally before the election campaign. I think we are closer to the issues that matter in people’s lives.
– How have you changed?
– Almost others have to say something about it, but I really feel more secure in our entire political project now.
For the party leader admits that he had a slightly bad feeling before the election in 2017.
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– Now I am more stable in our project, which is about setting a fairer course after eight years of right-wing politics that has favored the richest. I have led the work with the party program myself, and before the corona I traveled a lot around the country and in the party.
He highlights the meetings with people, associations and companies.
– It has made me confident that we have the answers to both the various challenges people face in their lives, and the major challenges we as a society face, such as climate change and growing inequality, says Støre.
– So if I have to say something myself then, I feel a little safer now than I did last time. I’m not looking forward to the election campaign any more than I might have done last time, where I felt it was a bit yes …
Støre thinks a little before he answers.
– A bit mixed, but now I’m really looking forward to starting the election campaign.
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– DISCONNECT: Boating and fishing make the prime ministerial candidate think of other things than politics and the election campaign.
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Støre follows the European Football Championship from the cabin in Kilsund and draws a parallel to the upcoming election campaign.
– The work we have done has given a boost to the measurements, and it feels good. But I’m very focused on that this is going to be smooth. Nothing is given, and it is important to keep full attention completely. I watched the football match between France and Switzerland in the European Championships, where France led 3-1 when there were ten minutes left, and then they could not keep the lead.
He is aware that the election campaign will begin at the end of the summer, and it will last until 13 September.
– There is no room to relax, so I spend a lot of time this summer also thinking about how an election campaign should be. I work a lot with it, says the Labor leader.
Jonas Gahr Støre is an avid mackerel fisherman and remembers from childhood when they pulled up 5-6 fish at a time, and came ashore with over 100 mackerel.
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Støre will not take the victory in advance, but the trends in the polls this spring are clear. Støre is well placed to become Norway’s next prime minister.
– I hope we get a majority to form a new government. Then I’m ready to lead the team, and it’s about being prime minister. But it is part of a big solitaire, so it is not something that is driven by my desire to become prime minister. I have ambitions that we can get there, implement the Labor Party’s policy, which means something in people’s lives. I would like to lead that.
– Are you prepared for what such a job entails?
– It is a tough life to be prime minister. It is hard work, and I have great respect for Erna Solberg and the job she puts in for what she believes in. So I have to be prepared for that. You have to give one hundred percent, but I’m ready for it. I feel prepared, and in shape to do the job, says Støre.
– STØ KURS: Jonas Gahr Støre is ready to become Norway’s next prime minister.
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