I think there are two main reasons. The first reason is that, even though many other countries see Norway as a kind of social democratic paradise, it is not. Of course, the situation is much better than in many other countries, even in Europe, but still you see class differences. The rich are not only getting richer, they also want more political power, and donate to right-wing parties to get it. I think people want to change this constellation, and for many of them, that means supporting our party, which has had a laser focus on economic equality since its founding.

People are also noticing rising food prices. In Norway, two family-owned companies control 70 percent of all grocery stores. People see these inequalities and think: okay, here is a party that wants to work for working-class people, even those who cannot work anymore. I think Norwegians are becoming more aware of inequality and want change, which is why I think — and hope — that we will achieve a better result this year than four years ago.

The second major factor, I think, is the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which is a big issue in Norway. Solidarity with the Palestinian people has always been important for our party, but especially now. A lot of people want to stand with Palestinians and want Norway to do more, and they are therefore choosing parties that support Palestine.

I think it is because of the economic situation. Everything is more expensive than it used to be. Now, even the average Norwegian family feels insecure about their finances, which was not the case twenty years ago. Their parents felt safe, but they do not.

Exactly. It is both the economic insecurity people feel, and the very visible unfairness in how wealth is distributed. We have never had as many superwealthy individuals in Norway as we do now, so people see the contrast more clearly.

We’re standing here in front of the biggest hospital in Oslo. It is a major workplace and a big employer, but staff are experiencing shortages because, as the politicians say, “We don’t have enough money for the hospitals.” But everyone knows there is enough money in Norway. That’s why so many people here want to talk to us and tell us that they plan to vote for us. That isn’t only the case in the public sector but in private industry, too.

That’s a big debate in Norway. Some parties, particularly the ruling ones, claim that electricity prices are rising because of the invasion. But this is not really true.

The problem is that Norway has plenty of energy, and that energy used to be under democratic, public control. Now, the Norwegian energy grid is integrated into the European market, and prices are higher. But that is a political choice: whether you let the market control your infrastructure or keep it under democratic control. Of course, the war did affect some prices, but that is not the whole picture.

The Russian invasion sparked a renewed debate about the defense sector. Nowadays, all parties pretty much agree that we must strengthen our own defense. Previously, there was an expectation that the United States would save us, but people don’t think like that anymore — especially after [Donald] Trump.

Within our party, there was also a big debate about sending weapons to Ukraine. It was not easy, but in the end I think we reached a good position. We are still opposed to NATO, but we support Ukraine and believe it has the right to defend itself, including with weapons.

The war also affects us more because Russia is Norway’s neighbor, and that neighbor is now attacking another neighboring country. We in Rødt oppose imperialism and aggression from wherever it comes from — Russia, the US, Israel, it doesn’t matter, we have a principled stance. Unfortunately, the other Norwegian parties don’t always abide by those same principles consistently, opposing some wars but not others.

Of course it is worrying, not just for me but for many people, because it’s a symptom of deeper problems in society. Our primary strategy for tackling the far-right threat is to talk about our own politics and policies — about what we can do together in Norway. The center-left and centrist parties, on the other hand, tend to limit themselves to telling voters that the far right is dangerous. While that is true, it is not enough. You also have to give people an alternative

That’s why we emphasize economics. In Rødt, we try to show voters that working-class people, the sick, and the elderly all have more to gain from our policies than from the far right’s. If the Progress Party’s economic agenda were to be implemented, working people’s everyday lives would get worse. The Progress Party works for the richest — if you look at their actions, it’s obvious. We try to expose that.

Rødt wants to contribute to political change in order to reduce inequality. Being in government is not a goal in itself for us. We are skeptical of joining in to administer capitalism on capitalism’s terms. For government participation to be a realistic option in the future, we would have to be strong enough to challenge today’s system. For example, by taking back democratic control over energy resources or by terminating the European Economic Area Agreement and negotiating a new and more democratic trade deal with the EU. We are not there yet, even though we are growing.

Instead, Rødt’s plan is to bring the parties in the majority constellation together to create an agreement in which we agree on some main lines of policy over the next four years. For us, it is important that the Labor Party commits to the Left and does not zigzag between the Right and the Left depending on the mood on any given day. We want the wealthy and corporations to contribute more to society, to ensure that dental care becomes part of the public health services and that benefits for the sick, disabled, and pensioners are increased.

A new development this year is that the main national trade union confederation acknowledged Rødt as a part of the broader red-green coalition and are supporting our campaign financially.

We see ourselves as the real party of the working class. Labor has become an establishment party that tries to strike a balance between different social groups. But the richest Norwegians are fighting hard for their interests, and you cannot just balance between them and everyone else — you must fight for the interests of the working class.

Of course, we would prefer for Labor to be stronger than the right-wing parties, but it’s not our job to make them stronger — our role is to push Labor to the left and to support the trade unions. I think we are already doing that job today.

I am not familiar with what Rackete said, so it is difficult to comment on it directly. But when it comes to the Norwegian oil industry, Rødt agrees that it must be phased out. The Norwegian state has earned a lot of money from oil, and we have a major climate responsibility to take on — one that has not yet been fulfilled.

Some politicians in Norway want us to be a nation that lives off the sale of raw materials. We disagree. Our main proposal is to stop all new oil exploration so that production will naturally decline. But Rødt is also a workers’ party, and we are concerned that there must be a proper plan to build up alternative green jobs before the old ones disappear. Norway has emission-free hydropower energy that can be used for clean industry — a huge potential that we are not realizing today because we have also become a major exporter of power to the continent.

I would also add that, thanks to a strong social democracy in the 1960s and 1970s, Norway managed to achieve what other raw-material nations did not: securing state ownership and control over natural resources. We are proud of that history.

Rødt was founded in 2007, and at that time we had less than 2,000 members. Today we have around 14,000. Of course, every party has a history, and many members bring their own histories, but the party today is shaped by our members and the struggles they are involved in. I think most encouraging is the demographic shift we have undergone: while we started out as a mostly urban, academic party, our growth over the last decade has occurred largely among low-wage workers and the unemployed, and increasingly, we attract votes from across the country, not just the big cities.

We have also become much younger since our founding, and our current leadership is a product of Rødt itself, not its predecessors. That also goes to show that Rødt was not just a rebranding exercise but truly a new, organic force in the Norwegian workers’ movement. We still have a long way to go, but I’m hopeful that we will continue to expand our base in the working class and, bit by bit, become a leading force on the Norwegian left.