Longyearbyen Community Council

Longyearbyen Community Council (Norwegian: Longyearbyen lokalstyre) is the local government for Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. It has many of the same responsibilities of a municipality. It is organized with a 15-member council which since 2011 has been led by Mayor Christin Kristoffersen of the Labour Party. The council's main responsibilities are infrastructure and utilities, including power, land-use and community planning, education from kindergarten to upper secondary level and child welfare. It operates three kindergartens in addition to the 13-grade Longyearbyen School.

Longyearbyen Community Council
Type
Type	Municipal council
Leadership
Mayor	Leif Terje Aunevik, Liberal Party since 2023
Structure
Seats	15 councillors
Political groups	Liberal Party (7)   Labour Party (3)   Socialist Left Party (3)   Conservative Party (2)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last election	9 October 2023
Meeting place
Næringsbygget, Longyearbyen 9170, Svalbard
Website
www.lokalstyre.no

Background

The Svalbard Council was established on 1 November 1971. It consisted of 17 non-partisan members which were elected or appointed in three different groups—Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) employees, government employees and others, although the ratio changed several times. Svalbard Samfunnsdrift (SSD), a limited company which was responsible for public infrastructure and services, was established by SNSK on 1 January 1989. Responsibilities included healthcare, the fire department, the kindergarten, roads, garbage disposal, power production, the water and sewer system, the cinema, cultural activities and the library. Ownership was taken over by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 1 January 1993. During the 1990s, the authorities started a process to "normalize" Longyearbyen by abolishing the company town scheme and introducing a full range of services, a varied economy and local democracy. The Svalbard Council changed its regulations from 1993 and allowed parties to run for election. Longyearbyen Community Council was established in 2002, replacing the Svalbard Council and assimilating SSD.

Structure

The Community Council is the highest authority of local government in Longyearbyen, and deals with more general issues and policy. The Council elects a mayor and deputy mayor. More individual matters are delegated to committees.

By 2011, there were two permanent committees: the administrative committee, and the environment and business committee, both with 5 members. As of 2023, the following committees exist;

• Administrative Committee (5 members): considers budget proposals and financial matters. It also takes usually council-wide decisions when there is no time to convene the full council;
• Technical, environmental and industrial committee (7 members): considers matters concerning electricity and heating, fire and rescue, technical services, planning and property management. It is also responsible for cooperating with central government strategies, the airport and the UN sustainable development goals;
• Local community, youth and culture committee (7 members): considers matters concerning schooling and education, sports, culture, children and young people. It also is in charge of community grants and working with cultural institutions like museums;
• Multi-party committee (administrative committee + 2 representatives from employees of the Council): considers employer/employee matters within the council;
• Election committee (3 members): submits recommendations to the Council on relevant candidates for board positions.

Leadership

Mayor

The mayors, who have acted as leaders of the council, are listed below.

Name	Party	Term start	Term end
Sigmund Spjelkavik	Cross-party joint list [no]	Jan 2002	2003
Bjørn Fjukstad	Labour	Nov 2003	2006
Kjell Mork [no]	Labour	Oct 2006	2011
Christin Kristoffersen	Labour	Oct 2011	2015
Arild Olsen	Labour	Oct 2015	2023
Terje Aunevik	Liberal	2023	Incumbent

Elections

Elections are typically held in early October, some weeks after Norwegian local elections.

Until 2022, foreign nationals residing in Svalbard for three years could vote and stand in local elections.

2023 election

The election in 2023 was held on 9 October. It was won by the Liberal Party, who received 49.5% of the votes in the preliminary count on election night. The election was marred by the disenfranchisement of almost all residents without Norwegian citizenship, estimated to affect one-third of the town's population.

The final results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal	370	53.24	7	+3
	Labour	147	21.15	3	–2
	Socialist Left	122	17.55	3	+3
	Conservative	56	8.06	2	–1
Total		695	100.00	15	–
Valid votes		695	92.79
Invalid/blank votes		54	7.21
Total votes		749	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,420	56.90
Source: Official results, Spitsbergen

Following the election, the Liberal and Conservative Parties agreed to work together, with Terje Aunevik from the Liberals as mayor and Celine Anderssen from the Conservatives as deputy mayor.

2019 election

The election in 2019 was held over 6–7 October. The Labour Party won the most seats, and the mayor Arild Olsen continued in post.

The final results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour	350	31.36	5	0
	Liberal	345	30.91	4	+1
	Conservative	190	17.03	3	–2
	Progress	130	11.65	2	+2
	Green	101	9.05	1	–1
Total		1,116	100.00	15	–
Valid votes		1,116	98.59
Invalid/blank votes		16	1.41
Total votes		1,132	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,827	61.96
Source: Official results

Following the election, Labour, the Conservatives and the Progress Party came to an agreement to govern together, with Labour's Arild Olsen continuing as mayor, and Kjetil Figenschou becoming the deputy mayor.

2015 election

The election in 2015 was held over 4–5 October. Preliminary results suggested that the Labour Party and Conservative Party were both tied at 5 seats, followed by the Liberal Party with 3 and Greens with 2.

A few days before the election, an opinion poll among 112 voters, published by Svalbardposten and conducted by Norfakta, suggested that Labour would win the election with 57% of the vote, with the Conservatives at 21%, Greens at 13% and Liberals at 10%. This was an increase in Labour's lead from a poll in 2014.

The final seat results were as follows:

Party		Seats	+/–
	Labour	5	–2
	Conservative	5	+2
	Liberal	3	+3
	Green	2	+2
	Cross-party joint list [no]	0	–3
	Consequence List	0	–2
Total		15	–
Source: Annual Report

Despite the Conservatives and Liberals having a majority, attempted negotiations failed and an agreement was forged between Labour and the Liberals, with Arild Olsen becoming the mayor and Eirik Berger from the Liberals becoming deputy mayor.

2011 election

The election in 2011 was held over 10–11 October. It was won by the Labour Party, with 7 seats, The election was part of a pilot scheme which reduced the voting age to 16: there were 21 eligible voters aged 16–17.

The Consequence List gained seats for the first time, which promised to abolish the council.

The final results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour	392	43.56	7	0
	Cross-party joint list [no]	195	21.67	3	–1
	Conservative	160	17.78	3	0
	Consequence List	134	14.89	2	+2
	Progress	19	2.11	0	0
Total		900	100.00	15	–
Valid votes		900	99.23
Invalid/blank votes		7	0.77
Total votes		907	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,592	56.97
Source: Poll of polls

Following the election, Labour's Christin Kristoffersen became the mayor, and the Conservative's Geir Hekne became the deputy.

2007 election

The election in 2007 saw victory for the Labour Party, which won 45.5% of the vote.

The final results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour	279	44.36	7	+1
	Cross-party joint list [no]	169	26.87	4	–1
	Conservative	112	17.81	3	+1
	Svalbard List	42	6.68	1	+1
	Progress	27	4.29	0	–2
Total		629	100.00	15	–
Valid votes		629	98.74
Invalid/blank votes		8	1.26
Total votes		637	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,563	40.27
Source: Official results, Svalbardposten

1. Voters were able to vote for 15 candidates, so an estimate of party list votes have been calculated by dividing the total votes by 15.^{[citation needed]}

Following the election, the Council re-elected Labour's Kjell Mork as the mayor.

2003 election

The election in 2003 was won by the Labour party, who won 6 of the 15 available seats.

The final seat results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour	236	44.61	6	0
	Cross-party joint list [no]	164	31.00	5	–3
	Progress	65	12.29	2	+2
	Conservative	64	12.10	2	+1
Total		529	100.00	15	–
Valid votes		529	96.71
Invalid/blank votes		18	3.29
Total votes		547	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,334	41.00
Source: Svalbardposten

The turnout saw a substantial drop in support for the fellesliste, with gains made by the Conservative & Progress parties. They had claimed to be alternatives to the establishment, and had been critical of the board's progress.The media also noted that turnout had dropped sharply.

Following the election, the Council elected Labour's Bjørn Fjukstad as mayor. He was supported by the Conservative & Progress parties, alongside Labour.

2001 election

The first election to the community council was held over 18–19 November 2001. 4 lists were approved to run by the electoral board. The fellesliste won a small majority of the seats, winning one less than it had on the previous Svalbard Council.

The results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Cross-party joint list [no]	298	47.83	8
	Labour	236	37.88	6
	Conservative	63	10.11	1
	Christian Democratic	26	4.17	0
Total		623	100.00	15
Valid votes		623	99.36
Invalid/blank votes		4	0.64
Total votes		627	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,217	51.52
Source: Svalbardposten

The council came into force in January 2002, when Sigmund Spjelkavik was elected.