Sylvi Listhaug

Early life and education

Listhaug was born and raised on a farm in Ørskog, Møre og Romsdal, to which she has odelsrett. Her father worked with transportation, while her mother ran the family farm. She has two twin siblings.

In 1995 Listhaug began to work as a care assistant at the Ørskog home for the elderly, and from 1996 to 2000 she studied history, social sciences, and special education at the Volda University College, and continued to work at the Ørskog home to support herself during her student years. In 2000 she graduated and qualified as a teacher, and from 2000 to 2001 she worked as a teacher at the Sjøholt school in Ørskog.

Early career

Listhaug started her political career locally in Ørskog. She has held several positions within the Progress Party and its youth organisation since 1998, and has been a member of the Progress Party central board since 2005. She worked as political advisor and aide to the Progress Party's parliamentary group from 2001 to 2004, and in 2005 had a stay abroad as an intern in the United States House of Representatives. She has served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian parliament from Møre og Romsdal (2001 to 2009), and from Oslo (2009 to 2013), with a total 95 days of parliamentary session served.

Oslo city commissioner

Listhaug was appointed city commissioner (byråd) of welfare and social services in the city government of Oslo in 2006, having been secretary to the previous commissioner Margaret Eckbo. Listhaug spearheaded a number of reforms as commissioner, introducing free choice in home care, and reintroducing senior homes in her first year. She stated as her goals more competition and better nursing homes, and opening for more private companies.

In 2009 she became the subject of a nursing home funding scandal, after it was revealed that a company that had been granted a total amount of 23,5 million NOK from Oslo municipality to build nursing homes for Norwegians in Altea, Spain had not yet even been granted a Spanish construction permit.

Other proposals by Listhaug as city commissioner included a stricter policy on psychiatric patients, and putting up posters of convicted rapists in their local community. Before the gay parade in Oslo in 2009, Listhaug suggested to some controversy that "half and almost wholly naked people dancing around in the streets of Oslo" could rather lead to less tolerance of homosexuals, thus working against its goal, although she made clear that homosexuals should be able to party "when and where they want".

Political Consultant

From 2012 until her cabinet appointment, Listhaug had worked as a senior consultant with First House,a Norwegian strategic advisory, corporate communications, governmental affairs and crisis management/issue management agency. Shortly after her appointment, media attention centered on her decision to keep secret her list of clients during her time in the job. The list of public clients was made public in early 2014 after Listhaug declared a personal conflict of interest.

Minister of Agriculture and Food

On 16 October 2013 Listhaug was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food in the new Solberg Cabinet. The Solberg government signalled a drastic change of course in Norwegian agricultural policy by opening for more freely sale and purchase of farms, and seeking a development towards fewer and bigger farms.

As Listhaug in 2010 had called the Norwegian agricultural policy a "communist system" in an op-ed, this received widespread attention in media and social media. After being pressured with the comment in a television debate, she stated her intent on following the new government's policy agreement. Prior comments by Listhaug and the new government's course was met with scepticism and protest among some farmers.

During her time as Minister of Agriculture and Food, Listhaug had, somewhat controversially, contacts with clients of First House, including the farmers’ organization Norges Bondelaget, the NHO employers’ organization unit representing food and beverage firm, the brewing organization Bryggeriforeningen, and supermarket chain Rema 1000, one of her last clients for First House before she joined the government herself.

Minister of Migration and Integration

On 16 December 2015 Listhaug was appointed Minister of Migration and Integration, a newly formed cabinet position in the wake of the European migrant crisis and record high numbers of asylum seekers in Norway that resulted in a broad parliamentary agreement to tighten asylum regulations. The month prior to her appointment Listhaug criticised what she described as a "tyranny of goodness" haunting the Norwegian immigration debate, and that it would be more Christian and reasonable to help as many people as possible through foreign aid to refugees abroad rather than aiding fewer and more costly asylum seekers in Norway. She later vowed that her proposed asylum regulations would make Norway's asylum policies "one of the strictest in Europe".

The first four months of 2016 saw asylum applications in Norway drop to its lowest levels since 1993, with only about 250 new applications each month. The reduction resulted in at least kr 800 million (US$100 million) being saved only in direct asylum reception costs in the revised annual state budget, amid budget strains due to the low oil price.

Opinion polls have consistently shown Listhaug to have the highest approval rating of all government ministers from her party, and several others. In September 2016, a poll showed that 59% of Norway's population approved of her work on immigration, with less than a quarter disapproving.

On October 2016 Listhaug said “I think those who come to Norway need to adapt to our society. Here we eat pork, drink alcohol and show our face. You must abide by the values, laws and regulations that are in Norway when you come here,” .

In September 2017, Listhaug was accused of anti-Muslim rhetoric when calling for a ban on the hijab in elementary schools.

Political views

Listhaug believes that the elderly should have legal rights to a place in private nursing homes paid by public funding. She has advocated "zero tolerance" on crime, more visible police, and said that integration has to become better by having stricter demands on people who move to Norway, combined with a more restrictive immigration policy.

Although a life-long Christian, Listhaug has considered leaving the Church of Norway, which she has described as "thoroughly socialist", due to the former Red-Green government's interventionist policy on appointment of bishops, as well as church leaders in her view voicing political opinions on too many issues. Favouring a separation of church and state, she has pointed to it "working well" in the United States. Listhaug has said she opposes same-sex marriage, and wants to reverse the law that implemented it in Norway. She has been a repeat guest on the Christian television channel Visjon Norge. A strong supporter of Israel following her study trip to the country during her teacher studies, Listhaug has voiced support for moving the Norwegian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

According to a jury that named Listhaug Norway's third greatest leadership talent of 2009, her ideology is a mix of a US Midwest Republican and late 19th century Norwegian politician Søren Jaabæk. She has said herself that she is socially conservative and economically liberal.

Personal life

Listhaug is married to fellow Progress Party politician Espen Espeset, and together they have one daughter and two sons.