Trust in local politicians is declining: Lars is giving up on politics because he is tired of career politicians who don't take responsibility

Resigns. Local politician Lars Gärtner in Vågan municipality resigns as a local politician due to lack of trust in career politicians.

Trust in Norwegian local politicians is declining, and politician Lars Gärtner believes that politicians as a group must take a large part of the responsibility themselves. He is withdrawing from politics because he believes that considerations of positions and power struggles are getting in the way of good decisions.

Text: Tarjei Abelsen

The latest 2026 Citizen Survey shows that the proportion who have high trust in municipal and city councils has fallen by eight percentage points since 2021. In 2025, 48 percent responded that they had high trust.

For Gärtner, this is not just a question of what the citizens think of the politicians. He himself has chosen to withdraw from politics.

He joined the Vågan municipal council for the Conservative Party, but is now an independent representative after resigning from the party. He says his resignation came after "crisis after crisis" in the party nationally and disagreements locally.

"For some, politics is a career path, and then it is very important to keep your position. You are not willing to implement unpopular decisions because it means you may not get votes in the next election," says Gärtner.

On Wednesday, September 23rd, he will attend Lytring in Stormen Library to debate what is causing trust in local politicians to fall.

He himself is finished with politics after this period.

– I would rather get involved in the sports team or other voluntary organizations, and contribute to a good local community that way.

Believes politicians must take responsibility

Poor municipal finances and insufficient transfers from the state are being blamed by some politicians and Researchers used as an explanation for the decline in trust in local politicians.

Gärtner believes it is too easy to blame the state.

– Politicians at all levels must realize that their decisions have consequences. When you take out loans with unrealistic expectations of interest rate developments and repayment capacity, or sell out of valuable positions to operate instead of taking structural measures, it becomes too easy to blame others, says Gärtner.

He believes that Vågan Municipality has taken on too large financial obligations, and highlights, among other things, the SKREI Center - where a total of 150 million kroner has been provided in loan guarantees.

"There are no consequences if politicians make the wrong choices, and most things seem to be resolved with talking points. It clearly builds frustration and less trust," he says.

Do you think national politics affects trust locally?

Gärtner also believes that national political scandals can contribute to weakening trust in local politicians.

– I believe that one of the most important reasons why trust in local politicians is declining is all the scandals among our national politicians. For me, it feels like many people don't see the big difference between local and national politics. I don't understand that the citizen survey shows that trust in national politicians is strengthening, but locally weakening. One explanation could still be that local politicians, unlike national politicians, don't have the money to implement, and that this in turn reduces people's faith in their ability to implement.

Gärtner believes that politicians themselves must take much of the blame for the loss of trust. But why are citizens actually losing trust in local politicians?

He will debate that question with researchers Christian Lo and Atle Haugsgjerd, as well as acting mayor Ida Gudding Johnsen, who is also asking. Lytring You can follow digitally at lytring if you don't have the opportunity to be in Stormen Library.

The debate leader is Anki Gerhardsen who asks the question: Do you trust the mayor?