Norway's political landscape faces a fundamental restructuring debate as the Conservative Party (Høyre) proposes dissolving the country's largest county, Innlandet. Anna Molberg, a Høyre politician from Hamar, argues her own county should serve as the pilot project for abolishing Norway's county municipalities entirely. Her proposal, set for debate at Høyre's national convention in February, has ignited a fierce political clash over local democracy, public services, and the future of Norway's vast interior regions.
"I think Innlandet can be a pilot. Go ahead, show that it is necessary and possible to close down the county municipality," Molberg said. She welcomed a weekend vote by the local Innlandet Høyre chapter endorsing the dissolution of their own administrative region. The plan would redistribute the county's responsibilities to individual municipalities and the national government, a model already proposed to the Storting via a parliamentary bill.
A Political Fault Line in Norway's Heartland
The proposal strikes at the core of a decade-long administrative experiment. Innlandet was created in 2020 through the controversial merger of the historic counties of Hedmark and Oppland. It now spans a massive area with 46 municipalities and over 377,000 residents, with its administrative headquarters in Hamar. Molberg contends that larger, stronger municipalities are essential for delivering quality welfare services. "The residents of Norway have the right to good welfare services, and a small municipality is not able to deliver services as good as a large municipality," she stated. She argues municipalities must focus on core tasks like schools, elderly care, and health.
This vision directly challenges the political identity of the Centre Party (Senterpartiet), which draws significant support from rural and inland areas. The party's leader, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, a native of Hedmark now living in the neighboring municipality of Stange, issued a sharp rebuttal. "That you should only have state administrators is very wrong," Vedum said. "Having good locally elected officials is a good thing. If you close down the county, there will be massive municipal mergers in the next round. Here there are great distances, and we need both large and small municipalities."
The Push for Stronger Municipalities
Molberg's argument hinges on a belief in economies of scale and administrative efficiency. She suggests the current structure, with a layer of county government, dilutes accountability and resources. "Then we have to have much stronger municipalities than we have today," she asserted. When questioned about small municipalities resisting forced mergers, Molberg expressed confidence that economic and practical pressures would naturally drive consolidation. "I think many municipalities now feel that they actually have no choice... And then we have to, as politicians, help the municipalities to do just that, and give good incentives for merger."
This local debate mirrors a national policy discussion. Just last Friday, a government-appointed municipal commission released its first recommendations on securing greater autonomy for municipalities. One proposal involved removing the so-called "teacher norm," a state regulation on staffing. This signals a broader political willingness to re-examine the division of labor between Norway's state, county, and municipal levels. Høyre's proposal for Innlandet is a radical extension of this logic, aiming not to reform but to eliminate the county tier altogether in certain regions.
The Centre Party's Defense of Local Democracy
For Vedum and the Centre Party, the proposal represents an attack on local self-determination and a step towards centralization. His warning of "massive municipal mergers in the next round" frames Høyre's plan as the first domino to fall. The Centre Party's platform is built on decentralizing power and protecting the viability of rural communities. Abolishing counties like Innlandet, in their view, would inevitably lead to the absorption of small towns and villages into larger administrative units, distancing decision-making from the people it affects.
Vedum's emphasis on "great distances" is a key geographical argument. Innlandet's territory stretches from the southern forests to the mountainous interior, encompassing remote valleys and sprawling municipalities. The county government, proponents argue, plays a crucial coordinating role for regional infrastructure, public transport, and secondary education (videregående skole) across this vast area. Replacing an elected county council with state appointees or expecting overstretched municipal councils to handle regional planning, they fear, would particularly disadvantage remote communities.
A Pilot Project or a Political Target?
The symbolic weight of choosing Innlandet as the proposed "pilot" is significant. As a newly created entity, it lacks the centuries-old institutional loyalty of Norway's other counties. Its creation was itself a top-down reform, met with mixed feelings in Hedmark and Oppland. This may make it politically easier to target for dissolution. However, its sheer size and economic diversity also make it a complex test case. Success or failure here would set a powerful precedent for the entire country.
Molberg's position as a local politician advocating for her own county's abolition is unusual. It suggests a strategic attempt by Høyre to frame the move not as an imposition from Oslo, but as a locally-driven initiative for efficiency. The weekend endorsement from Innlandet Høyre provides crucial internal cover for the national party to pursue this policy. The upcoming February national convention will reveal whether the party fully embraces this radical approach to regional reform.
The Broader Implications for Norwegian Governance
This debate transcends Innlandet's borders. It questions the very purpose of Norway's county (fylke) level of government, which sits between the national state and the 356 municipalities. Counties manage regional hospitals, upper secondary education, public transport, and cultural affairs. Critics have long argued this layer is bureaucratic and unnecessary; defenders say it is vital for regional development and balancing national uniformity with local needs.
If Høyre's model for Innlandet succeeded, it could become a template for other counties, particularly those created or reshaped in the 2020 reform. This would represent the most significant overhaul of Norwegian public administration in decades. The financial implications are substantial, involving the transfer of billions of kroner in budgets and assets. The human impact on thousands of public sector employees within county administrations would also be profound.
The Road to February and Beyond
The immediate political battlefield is Høyre's national convention. The party must decide if it will adopt a platform calling for the potential dissolution of counties, starting with Innlandet. Even if adopted, turning this into law would require parliamentary support. The current minority government, led by Labour's Jonas Gahr Støre with support from the Centre Party, is unlikely to back such a move. This makes Høyre's proposal a central plank for the next election, framing them as the party of streamlining and efficiency against the Centre Party's defense of local democracy.
The debate also exposes a deeper philosophical divide about Norway's future. Is the best guarantee of quality welfare services larger, more professionalized administrative units? Or does democratic legitimacy and community cohesion, represented by smaller, closer-to-home governments, provide a better foundation for society? The answer to these questions will shape not just the map of Innlandet, but the governance model for all of Norway. As the country grapples with an aging population, climate transition, and strained public finances, the pressure to reform its administrative structures will only intensify. The fate of Norway's largest county may well chart the course for the nation.