Lan Marie Berg joins politics – NRK Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country

– It has been a long process for me. But at the same time I am sure that this is right now, says Lan Marie Berg to Dagens Næringsliv.

Berg will not be re-elected to the Storting. She confirms this ahead of the MDG national meeting this weekend.

However, she has been appointed as deputy manager, and will be until spring 2025.

– When I resign to the Storting, it will be natural and also step out of the party leadership. But I am highly motivated to work for the MDGs as a representative of the people in the Storting and as deputy leader for one more year – if the party wants, she says.

After ten years in politics, both as a parliamentary representative and as a city councilor for the environment and transport in Oslo, Berg now wants to do something else.

– I had never dreamed of becoming a politician, and suddenly I became a city councilor in Oslo. Now after ten years, I feel that I owe it to myself to see what’s out there, she says.

In 2015, she took the step into local politics as the first candidate in Oslo MDG. Six years later she was elected to the Storting.

Berg is re-elected to the party leadership, and plans to remain in office as deputy leader for the rest of the parliamentary term.

– I think it is very sad. Lan Marie is a great role model for me and many others. She has changed Norwegian climate policy forever, says Margit Martinsen, deputy head of Oslo MDG.

– One of the most important politicians

– I have full respect for the choice she has made.

That’s what Arild Hermstad, MDG party leader, says. He believes that Berg has been particularly important for Oslo municipality and that she has taken the lead in climate policy.

– She is one of the most important politicians we have seen in Norway, he says.

Hermstad himself sits on the city council in Oslo municipality and is not elected to the Storting. The two have been colleagues for many years.

– She is incredibly hardworking. She has an extremely sharp head, and has good political analyses:

– Lan has clear opinions, and dares to stand by them, despite great opposition, says the party leader.

Hermstad says Berg has been a strength for the party, but that they are used to people leaving politics and new people coming in.

Experienced threats and incitement: – Surprised by how tough I was

Back in 2021, Lan Marie Berg got a lot of heat on social media. The police in Oslo decided to investigate the incident. Several people were reported to the police.

But Berg says this has not influenced his decision to enter politics.

– No, those who have tried to scare me away have actually made me more determined to persevere. It is important to say that if you are a woman with a minority background and have a politician in your belly, then dare to throw yourself into it:

– I was surprised at how tough I was, and I think many people will feel that if they want to work on something they are passionate about.

Today, the Green Party (MDG) has three representatives in the Storting. After Une Bastholm resigned as leader in 2022, Lan Marie Berg has been the party’s group leader.

Bastholm then said that she resigned because it was demanding to combine the job of party leader and parent of young children.

On Thursday evening, Bastholm announces that she will stand for election to the Storting and does not rule out that she may enter the leadership again.

MDG deputy leader Lan Marie Berg says that it has not been difficult to combine children and politics, and that this is not why she is giving up.

In recent weeks, politicians Tina Bru (H), Kari Elisabeth Kaski (SV), and Hadia Tajik (Ap) have withdrawn from top politics.

Nor did the unrest in the party cause Berg to withdraw.

– I live in Oslo, have a flexible husband, and live in multi-generational housing. It has been easier to combine life with young children as a parliamentary representative than as a city councillor.

– But now I hope, like Kaski, that I can work for what I am passionate about outside the Storting as well, says Berg to DN.