The Progress Party's Youth (, , FpU) is the youth wing of the Norwegian political party the Progress Party. It is generally considered to be more aligned towards classical liberalism than the Progress Party.Eilif Frich Flydal: Hagen ute, ungdommen inne Dagbladet, 11. mai 2006 The organisation has active chapters in all counties of Norway as well as in over 50 municipalities.
From 2012 to 2014, Himanshu Gulati was the organisation's chairperson. Gulati is the first leader of a youth wing of a major Norwegian political party with multi-cultural background.Første fleirkulturelle leiar for ungdomsparti, NRK After being selected to the post of State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Gulati stepped down. In 2014, Atle Simonsen was elected chairperson Atle sat as chairman until 2016, when the annual national meeting of FpU elected Bjørn-Kristian Svendrud as the organisation's chairman.
Lars Barstad Løvold has been chief, since 2026.https://www.nrk.no/nyheter/ny-fpu-leder-valgt-1.17843106. NRK.no. Retrieved 2026-04-11 Earlier, the chairperson was Simen Velle. He was elected in 2022. Velle is a self-described classical liberal, advocating for policies like legalization of drugs, polygamy and sales of organs.
History The organization was officially founded by members of the Progress Party (FpU) on the annual party convention on 10–11 February 1978, the same convention where Carl I. Hagen was elected chairman of the party. The organization's first leader was the future mayor of Oslo, Peter N. Myhre, who served until 1984.
1994 Bolkesjø purge
As soon as in 1989, rifts appeared within the FpU between a liberal and conservative faction. In the 1989 election several, hardline libertarians such as Pål Atle Skjervengen and Tor Mikkel Wara gained seats in the Storting and this further weakened the conservatives' position. That same year saw controversial proposals put forth by the liberals regarding gay marriage and immigration which sparked heated debates within among the youth members.
In 1992, the liberal Lars Grønntun was elected leader after a power struggle with Ingvar Myrvollen. This began a period of large-scale infighting which ultimately led to the board dissolving the organization, only to have the decision reversed by the party. After the expulsion of its entire liberal faction during the 1994 Progress Party national convention at Bolkesjø in Telemark, Ulf Leirstein became the new leader.
Recent history Norwegian secondary schools hold school elections. The organization consistently polls better there than its parent party and emerged as the largest party nationwide in 1989, 2003, 2005 and 2009. In 2009, FpU set a new membership record of 3,031 members, although this number sank to 855 in 2020.
Ideology and political positions In the organization's manifesto, it states: "The Progress Party's Youth supports a free-marked economy, regulated by supply and demand, without interference from government officials. A market economy is the economical system which gives the individual person greatest freedom of action". It also wishes to reform the welfare state with private insurance arrangements and increase privatization in the health and education sector, for one making the public hospitals "compete" with the privately owned hospitals for best possible care. It supports the legalization of medicinal cannabis, and more liberal drug laws in general.
Leadership List of chairpersons 1978–1984: Peter N. Myhre 1984–1987: Pål Atle Skjervengen 1987–1989: Tor Mikkel Wara 1989–1992: Jan Erik Fåne 1992–1994: Lars Erik Grønntun 1994–1995: Ulf Leirstein 1995–1996: Klaus Jakobsen 1996: Anders Anundsen 1996–1998: Reidar Helliesen 1998–1999: Anders Anundsen 1999–2002: Bård Hoksrud 2002–2008: Trond Birkedal 2008–2012: Ove André Vanebo 2012–2014: Himanshu Gulati 2014–2016: Atle Simonsen 2016–2020: Bjørn-Kristian Svendsrud 2020–2022: Andreas Brännström 2022–: Simen Velle
Current Central Committee Source: Chairperson: Simen Velle First vice-chairperson: Ole Jakob Warlo Second vice-chairperson: Claudia Rebecka Brännström Member: Julianne Ofstad Member: Markus Gotaas Member: Mats Henriksen First reserve member: Joakim Myklebost Tangen
References
External links Official website Progress Party website