Bent Høie
Høie in 2009
County Governor of Rogaland
Assumed office
1 November 2021
MonarchHarald V
Prime MinisterJonas Gahr Støre
Preceded byLone Merethe Solheim (acting)
Minister of Health and Care Services
In office
16 October 2013 – 14 October 2021
Prime MinisterErna Solberg
Preceded byJonas Gahr Støre
Succeeded byIngvild Kjerkol
Second Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
9 May 2010 – 11 September 2020
LeaderErna Solberg
Preceded byErling Lae
Succeeded byTina Bru
Member of the Storting
In office
8 April 2000 – 30 September 2021
DeputySveinung Stensland
Aleksander Stokkebø
Preceded byJan Johnsen
ConstituencyRogaland
Deputy Member of the Storting
In office
1 October 1997 – 8 April 2000
MemberJan Johnsen
ConstituencyRogaland
Personal details
Born (1971-05-04) 4 May 1971
Randaberg, Rogaland, Norway
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Dag Terje Solvang
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2022)​
Alma materUniversity of Bergen

Bent Høie (born 4 May 1971) is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party who has served as county governor of Rogaland since 2021. He previously served as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2013 to 2021, and a member of the Storting from Rogaland from 2000 to 2021.

Early life and education

Høie was born in Randaberg. He studied law at University of Bergen in 1991 and also attended the Norwegian School of Hotel Management from 1991 to 1993.

Political career

Høie represented his party in Stavanger Municipal Council and Rogaland County Council. He was elected deputy representative for Rogaland in the Storting in 1997, and succeeded Jan Johnsen as permanent representative following his death on 8 April 2000. Høie was elected for his first term in his own right in 2001. He was re-elected four times since. He didn't seek re-election for the 2021 election.[1]

Storting committees

  • 2005–2009: Member of the Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration.
  • 2001–2005: Member of the Standing Committee on Health and Social Affairs.
  • 2000–2001: Member of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment

Delegations

Local government

  • 2000-, 1991-1999: Member of the Rogaland County Council
  • 1999-2003: Member of the Stavanger Municipal Council
  • 1999-2000: Member of the Rogaland County Executive Board
  • 1991-1995: Member of the Randaberg Municipal Council

Political appointments

  • 2000–2002: Chairman of the Stavanger Conservative Party
  • 1997–1999: Deputy chairman of the Rogaland Conservative Party
  • 1995–1999: Political adviser for the Stavanger Conservative Party group in the Municipal Council
  • 1993–1995: Campaign secretary of the Rogaland Conservative Party
  • 1993–1995: Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Young Conservatives of Norway
  • 1990–1992: Chairman of the Rogaland Young Conservatives

Minister of Health and Care Services

Høie was appointed minister of health and care services on 16 October 2013, after Erna Solberg became prime minister following the 2013 election.[2]

Early during Høie's tenure, the government sent out a consultation memorandum on proposals for amendments to the Health and Care Services Act and the Patient and User Rights Act, as well as to the GP regulations and regulations on patient and user rights in the GP scheme. The consultation deadline was set for 30 April 2014. The most important proposal in the memorandum was to provide a legal basis for a regulation that gives doctors the right to reserve themselves against referral and treatment in the event of serious conflicts of conscience related to life and death, in practice especially abortion. The proposals, which were a result of the settlement between the Christian Democratic Party, the Conservatives and the Progress Party during the government negotiations in the autumn of 2013, gave rise to much criticism, also from the Conservative party's own ranks.[3]

The proposal, which was called prehistoric by top politicians in its own ranks,[4] was poorly received, which among other things led to a record turnout during the International Women's Day parade on 8 March 2014. Mayors across the country caused trouble for Høie and refused their GPs to reserve against referring to abortion.[5] As a result of the strong opposition, Høie chose to withdraw the proposals.[6][7]

In March 2016, Høie was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, which was co-chaired by presidents François Hollande of France and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.[8]

In 2018, he joined the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health, a group convened by Michael Bloomberg and Lawrence Summers to address preventable leading causes of death and noncommunicable diseases through fiscal policy.[9]

In October 2019, Høie criticized skier Andreas Håtveit, who caused controversy when he expressed concern about the level of where the standard was put for leaders in KRIK. In his criticism against Håtveit, he drew comparisons to treatment of LGBT individuals during the 1980s.[10]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, Høie was a leading figure representing the government, routinely appearing at press conferences alongside prime minister Erna Solberg and health officials announcing new rules, restrictions and regulations.

On 28 September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic; Oslo governing mayor Raymond Johansen criticised Høie for having seemingly claimed that the government would overrule Oslo municipality if they didn't apply more harsher restrictions against the decease. Johansen also stated that he had felt pressured by both Høie and the Norwegian Health Directorate. Høie later clarified that he had only meant that the government could overrule the municipality if they didn't come with good enough measures themselves, which would have been in the form of national COVID-19 measures.[11]

In May 2021, Høie expressed gratitude for municipalities who were willing to redistribute vaccines in favour of 24 other municipalities in Eastern Norway.[12]

After the government announced that politicians would be getting vaccines in late May, Høie was one of the ministers who turned down the offer, alongside members of the Storting, both opposition and coalition partners. He expressed that he'd rather wait for his age group in the vaccination lineup before he would get vaccinated.[13]

Following the cabinet's defeat at the 2021 election, he was succeeded by Ingvild Kjerkol on 14 October.[14]

Deputy party leader

Høie was elected second leader of the Conservative Party at the party convention in 2010. He served as deputy leader for ten years, and didn't seek re-election in 2020. At the convention in September of that year, he was succeeded by Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru, who had been designated as second deputy in March.[15]

County Governor of Rogaland

On 26 October 2018, Høie was nominated to become the next county governor of Rogaland, succeeding the Centre Party's Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa. He assumed office on 1 November 2021.[16][17]

Early into his tenure, Høie met with delegations from Sandnes and Strand to discuss the ongoing uncertainty of readjusting Forsand's border.[18]

Following a referendum in Forsand in February 2022; where 54% voted in favour and 44% against joining Strand, Høie later came with the recommendation to do just that. The recommendation was then sent to the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation for consideration, and subsequent approval.[19] In June, the ministry rejected the proposal for Forsand to join Strand, and that it should stay a part of Sandnes, which caused a stir among pro-Strand champions.[20]

Other administrative posts

  • 2000- : Chairman of the board of the Dyslexia Research Foundation

Personal life

Høie is openly gay and married to Dag Terje Solvang. They entered a partnership in 2000, and married the year after.[21][22] On 4 October 2022, Høie announced that he and Solvang had separated.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Flere profiler forsvinner fra Stortinget" (in Norwegian). ABC Nyheter. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "Dette er utfordringene som møter de nye statsrådene" [These are the challenges facing the new ministers]. Aftenposten. 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Høyre mot Høyre i reservasjonskamp" (in Norwegian). NRK. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "Høyre-topp om reservasjonsrett: Det er forhistorisk" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. ↑ "165 ordførere sier nei til reservasjonsretten" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Rekord-oppslutning landet rundt" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Høie snur om reservasjonsretten" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ↑ High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth – Commissioners World Health Organization.
  9. ↑ Michael R. Bloomberg and Lawrence H. Summers Create Task Force to Address Preventable Leading Causes of Death and Noncommunicable Diseases Through Fiscal Policy Bloomberg Philanthropies, press release of January 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Helseminister Høie kraftig ut mot homohets" (in Norwegian). Vårt Land. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  11. ↑ "Raymond Johansen: – Helseministeren gikk for langt" (in Norwegian). NRK. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "24 kommuner får flere vaksiner" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "Høie om vaksine-nei: Mest negative reaksjoner" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Norge har fått ny regjering". NRK (in Norwegian). 14 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "Tina Bru clapped in as Bent Høie's heir in the Conservative leadership" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Tre nye fylkesmenn utnemnde i dag: – Uheldig om partifargen bestemmer" (in Norwegian). NRK. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Bent Høie starter i ny jobb 1. november" (in Norwegian). Dagsavisen. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Det blir ny folkehøring i Forsand om løsrivelse fra Sandnes" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Bent Høie om grensejusteringen av Forsand: – Befolkningen ønsket dette" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Sterke reaksjoner på at Forsand må bli i Sandnes: – En hestehandel" (in Norwegian). NRK Rogaland. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "The straightest person I know" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "Høie tar med ektemannen til Sotsji". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  23. ↑ "Bent Høie og ektemannen går fra hverandre etter 26 år" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
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