Anniken Huitfeldt

Anniken Scharning Huitfeldt (born 29 November 1969) is a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. She served as Minister of Children and Equality from 2008-2009, Minister of Culture from 2009-2012 and Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion from 2012-2013.

She was born in Bærum as a daughter of public prosecutor Iver Huitfeldt (1943–) and Sidsel Scharning (1940–1990). She is a niece of politician Fritz Huitfeldt and granddaughter of judge Otte Huitfeldt. Huitfeldt grew up in the small town of Jessheim.

She attended Jessheim Upper Secondary School from 1985 to 1988, and then worked for one year as county secretary of the Workers' Youth League, the youth wing of the Labour Party. From 1989 to 1992 she studied at the University of Oslo, minoring in political science and history, and from 1992 to 1993 she took a minor in geography at the London School of Economics. From 1993 to 1996 she took the master's degree in history in Oslo.

Huitfeldt was involved in student politics already while attending school, as a member of Akershus county school board rom 1986 to 1988. She was also a central board member of the Norges Gymnasiastsamband from 1987 to 1988, and in her native Ullensaker she was a member of the municipal equality committee.

She chaired the Ullensaker branch of the Workers' Youth League from 1985 to 1988 and became a central board member in 1990. She advanced to deputy leader in 1994 and was the Workers' Youth League leader from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2001 she was the vice president of the International Union of Socialist Youth.

She was elected as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Akershus for the terms 1993-1997 and 2001-2005, and entered the Labour Party's central board in 2002, but mainly worked as a researcher in the Fafo Foundation from 2000 to 2005. Among other things she wrote reports on child slavery, trafficking, child marriage and women's rights. Huitfeldt was also a board member of the Falstad Centre from 2000 to 2005 and Save the Children Norway from 2001 to 2005.

Huitfeldt was elected as a full representative to Parliament for the first time in 2005, and then re-elected in 2009 and 2013. She served from 2005 to 2008 as deputy leader of the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs, and since 2013 she leads the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence as well as the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

On 29 February 2008 she became Minister of Children and Equality in Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet. In a cabinet reshuffle in October 2009 she became Minister of Culture. On 21 September 2012 she was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion, a post she held until Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet fell in October 2013. Her seat in Parliament was covered by deputies Gorm Kjernli (2008 to 2009) and Are Helseth (2009 to 2013).