Gerhardsen's First Cabinet, often called the Unification Cabinet (Norwegian: Samlingsregjeringen), was a Norwegian government appointed to serve under Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen between 25 June and 5 November 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Gerhardsen's First Cabinet
Unification Cabinet

Cabinet of Norway
Date formed25 June 1945
Date dissolved5 November 1945
People and organisations
Head of stateHaakon VII of Norway
Head of governmentEinar Gerhardsen
No. of ministers15
Member partyLabour Party
Liberal Party
Conservative Party
Communist Party
Resistance movement
Status in legislatureMajority
History
Legislature term1945-1949
Outgoing formation1945 parliamentary election
PredecessorNygaardsvold's Cabinet
SuccessorGerhardsen's Second Cabinet

The preceding Nygaardsvold's Cabinet had been appointed nine years earlier, but in 1940, just before scheduled elections, Norway was invaded by Germany, and the government had to flee to London. When the war was over, Nygaardsvold's Cabinet abdicated after returning to Norway, and a panpolitical, coalition government was appointed by King Haakon VII to sit until an election for the Parliament of Norway could be held.

The cabinet is noteworthy in Norwegian political history for being the first one to include a woman, Kirsten Hansteen, who was Consultative Councillor of State in the Ministry of Social Affairs, the only one ever to have members from the Communist Party of Norway (one of whom was Hansteen), and the only time the Labour Party sat in a coalition government before Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was appointed in 2005.

Cabinet

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The cabinet had the following members:[1]

Portfolio Minister Period Party
Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Minister of Foreign Affairs Trygve Lie 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Minister of Defence Oscar Torp 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Minister of Finance Gunnar Jahn 25 June – 5 November 1945 Resistance
Minister of Justice and the Police Johan Cappelen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Conservative
Minister of Church Affairs and Education Kaare Fostervoll 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Consultative Councillor of State
for Church Affairs
Conrad Bonnevie-Svendsen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Resistance
Minister of Agriculture Einar Frogner 25 June – 5 November 1945 Agrarian
Minister of Trade Lars Evensen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Minister of Provisioning and Reconstruction Egil Offenberg 25 June – 5 November 1945 Conservative
Consultative Councillor of State
for Finnmark Affairs
Hans Gabrielsen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Liberal
Minister of Shipping Tor Skjønsberg 25 June – 5 November 1945 Resistance
Minister of Labour Johan Strand Johansen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Communist
Minister of Social Affairs Sven Oftedal 25 June – 5 November 1945 Labour
Consultative Councillor of State
for Social Affairs
Kirsten Hansteen 25 June – 5 November 1945 Communist

References

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  1. ^ "Einar Gerhardsens første regjering 1945". Government.no. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
Preceded by Norwegian Council of State
1945
Succeeded by