Gerd-Liv Valla

Valla grew up on a farm near Bjerka in Hemnes municipality, Nordland. Their father was active in the Norwegian Agrarian Association, and her brother Nils Valla would become a national leader of this organization. Gerd-Liv Valla moved to Hemnesberget to compete her primary education, and to Mo i Rana for upper secondary school. While living in Mo, she competed for Mo IL in middle distance running and set a Northern Norwegian record in the 800 metres. The time was 2:18.1 minutes, achieved in June 1968 on Bislett stadion.

Valla has a major degree in political science, with minors in social anthropology and public law. She graduated as cand.polit. from the University of Oslo in 1977, and attended the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo in 1979. She headed the Norwegian Student Union 1974–75.

For seven years she was married to historian Harald Berntsen. Together they have a daughter.

She has worked both in the trade unions and as first consultant and office leader at the Research Council of Norway, as well as lector at Eik Teacher Academy in Tønsberg.

In 1997 she was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police in the cabinet Jagland, replacing Anne Holt who left. Valla lost this job in late 1997, when the cabinet Jagland lost the election and was replaced by the first cabinet Bondevik.

In January 2007 Valla was accused of harassment and of having an authoritarian leading style by Ingunn Yssen, a former deputy. This sparked enormous media-interest in Valla, and generated heated debate over her future as leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. On 9 March, under massive pressure, she announced her resignation after a controversial external inquiry found that she and LO had violated several Norwegian labor laws.

Ivar Hippe was one of her political consultants when the controversy started.