The Socialist Left Party (Norwegian: Sosialistisk Venstreparti, Northern Sami: Sosialistalas Gurutbellodat) or SV, is a democratic socialist political party in Norway. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since. In 2005 the party became a governing party for the first time, participating in the Red-Green Coalition with the Labour Party and the Centre Party; before that, SV was frequently turned down by the Labour Party.
The party was founded in 1973 as the Socialist Electoral League, an electoral coalition with the Communist Party, Socialist People's Party, Democratic Socialists – AIK and independent socialists. In 1975 the coalition was turned into an electoral party. The party was largely founded as a result of the foreign policies prevalent at the time, with the socialists being opposed to Norwegian membership in the European Union (then known as the European Economic Community) and NATO. While currently having the official ideology of Democratic socialism, the party has increasingly profiled itself as supporting pro-feminism and environmental policy, and called for a stronger public sector, more government involvement in the economy and a strengthening of the social welfare net. Since 1987 the moderate faction of the party has held the leading positions.
As of 2008 the party has over 9,500 members; the number has steadily decreased since the party entered the governing coalition. The current leader of the Socialist Left is Audun Lysbakken, who was elected on 11 March 2012.
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