Norway's center-left gains after vote; climate is key issue

The center-left bloc in Norway seems to have won Monday’s general election

Norway Elections (Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB)

The center-left bloc in Norway appears to have won Monday’s general election, according to the first official projection, which shows the ruling Conservatives would lose power after a campaign dominated by climate change and the future of the country’s oil and gas exploration industry.

With a projection based on a preliminary count of nearly 52% of the vote, the Labor Party and its two allies — the Socialist Left and the euroskeptic Center Party — appear to have won 88 of the Stortinget assembly’s 169 seats, according to the Norwegian election commission. A majority in the parliament is at 85 seats.

The wealthy Scandinavian country is not member of the European Union