Sigbjørn Gjelsvik

He has been politically active in the Centre Party and Nei til EU since 1992. In 1995, he became a member of Naustdal municipal council and Sogn og Fjordane county council. In 1996, he walked 440 km on foot from Oslo to Loen in protest against the fact that as a student in Oslo he was not allowed to cover travel expenses at municipal board meetings. The case ended with County Governor agreeing with Gjelsvik that he should have his travel expenses covered. Gjelsvik sat on the county board for the Centre Youth in Sogn og Fjordane from 1992 to 1995 and on the Centre Youth's central board from 1994 to 2000. He was the Centre Youth's political deputy leader from 1997 to 1998 and leader from 1998 to 2000. He was also leader in Nei til EU from 1999 to 2004.

Gjelsvik was elected to the Storting from Akershus in the 2017 election.[4] Prior to this, he was employed as head of the secretariat for the Centre Party's parliamentary group. He successfully sought re-election to the Storting in the 2021 election.[5]

He also served as the Centre Party's financial spokesperson until his government appointment in April 2022.[6][7]

Following the 2021 election, Gjelsvik was brought in by party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, along with parliamentary leader Marit Arnstad, to assist in the subsequent government negotiations with the Labour Party following the Socialist Left Party's withdrawal from the negotiations.[8] Gjelsvik was also mentioned as a strong candidate to become minister of finance, second to Marit Arnstad.[9] However, after Jonas Gahr Støre rejected his appointment, Vedum himself became a more probable candidate to the post. The Labour Party had prompted that the Centre Party should rather appoint someone from their leadership to the post, a position Gjelsvik did not hold.[10][11]

On 12 April 2022, in a minor reshuffle following Odd Roger Enoksen’s resignation, Gjelsvik was appointed minister of local government, succeeding Bjørn Arild Gram who had been appointed Enoksen’s successor.[12]

A week after becoming minister, Gjelsvik expressed support to soften the “beach zone”, and let municipalities to override state regulations in the districts. The beach zone rule prohibits construction of properties no more then 100 metres from a beach.[13] However, his proposal was opposed by the Norwegian Association for Outdoor Organisations, who argued that beach zones should be more available to the public. They also expressed that there should be more political will to change the rule in a general sense.[14]

At a press conference on 29 April, the government announced that temporary changes to laws in order to include Ukrainian refugees. Gjelsvik spoke about residencies and changes to a law regarding it. The temporary change to it would allow municipalities to settle refugees faster and more effectively. He stated: “An important prerequisite for success with this is that there is enough access to housing in the municipalities. It is important that the municipalities have more room for maneuver, so that they can quickly and efficiently provide enough housing for the refugees. Therefore, the government proposes to introduce a temporary emergency authority in the Planning and Building Act“.[15]