Knut Arild Hareide

Who is Knut Arild Hareide?

Knut Arild Hareide a Norwegian politician who serves as a member of parliament from Akershus and as the current leader of the Christian Democratic Party. Hareide served as Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005 in the second Bondevik cabinet. In 2007 he announced he would step down from the national political scene for the time being, but he returned when he was nominated as the top candidate for the Christian Democratic Party ticket in Akershus in the 2009 election where he won the county's leveling seat. After Dagfinn Høybråten stepped down as party leader, Hareide was unanimously elected to take his place at the 2011 party convention.

Before his tenure as government minister, Hareide had sat through one term in the municipal council of his native Bømlo, served as a deputy representative to the national parliament as well as working two years as a State Secretary. He was also second deputy leader of his party from 2003 to 2007, having come through the ranks of the party's youth organization.

Outside of politics, Hareide is an economist by education, and he has worked for the media conglomerate Schibsted.