Kåre Kristiansen

Who was Kåre Kristiansen?

Kåre Gudbrand Kristiansen was a Norwegian politician active in the Christian People's Party. Noted as a conservative within his own party, he was known to take controversial positions at odds with the prevailing consensus.

Kristiansen was born in Bergen, the son of a lay preacher. Both his parents were active in The Salvation Army. He started his professional life as a telegraph operator in the Norwegian railroad system, where he rose through the ranks. A devout Christian all his life, he became politically active in his home community of Nesodden in 1951. He was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1965 and served in this capacity until 1968. He was elected to Storting, first as a deputy member in 1969 and as a full member from 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1989. He was chairman in the parliamentary foreign affairs committee from 1981 to 1983 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1983 to 1986.

He served as chairman for the Christian People's Party from 1975 to 1977 and 1979 to 1983. As a result of an internal dispute about how to cooperate with the Conservative Party, he resigned from the chair of his party and instead became parliamentary leader.