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Biography
Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (born 28 July 1978) is a Norwegian politician, MP for the Conservative Party who has served as Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion since January 2020. He previously served as Minister of Trade and Industry from 2018 to 2020 and Minister of Education and Research from October 2013 to January 2018; except from September to November 2017 when he was on parental leave and his duties was upheld by Henrik Asheim.
Isaksen edited the newspaper Xtra, published by the Young Conservatives (Unge Høyre), the youth wing of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2004, and he was the leader of the Young Conservatives from 2004 to 2008. Prior to entering politics full-time, Isaksen worked as a freelance journalist and was the political editor in the gazette Minerva. Isaksen holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Oslo. His master's thesis was on Friedrich Hayek. In 2008 he published the book The Right Turn. For a New Conservatism, which was printed in three editions.
Hailing from Porsgrunn, he served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Telemark during the 2005–2009 term. In the 2009 election he was the top candidate for theTelemark Conservativesand was elected to the parliament for the first time.
In 2007 he was named Norway's most talented young politician by VG.
After Geir-Inge Sivertsen resigned as Minister of Fisheries in March 2020, Røe Isaksen was acting minister for 11 days before Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen’s appointment.
Publications
- T.R. Isaksen and N. Astrup; Velferd etter velferdsstaten
- T.R. Isaksen; Høyre om (2008)
- T.R. Isaksen with Henrik Syse; Conservatism, an anthology With translated texts from amongst others Augustin, Edmund Burke, Joseph de Maistre, Konrad Adenauer and Roger Scruton(2011)