Harald Stordahl
The Right Honourable Lord Harald Stordahl Viscount of Vjerden, CGE PC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statsminister of Geordinia | |
| Assumed office October 3rd, 2012 | |
| Monarch | Filip II, Aleksandr IV |
| Preceded by | Mikkel Søgaard |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office October 3rd, 1987 – Incumbent | |
| Preceded by | Sebastien Jansen |
| Constituency | Trovjord's 14th District |
| Majority | 26,456 |
| Mayor of Djorban | |
| In office 1988–1996 | |
| Preceded by | Christopher Magnuson |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Deutshel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12th October, 1955 Djorban, Trovjord, Geordinia |
| Nationality | Geordinian |
| Political party | Conservative Party |
| Spouse | Yvonne Malmkvist |
| Residence | The State House |
| Alma mater | J.D., St. Kristopher's College, Nima University |
| Profession | Politician |
Harald Stordahl (full name: Harald Elias Stordahl) is a Geordinian politician who currently serves as Statsminister of the Kingdom of Geordinia, and represents the 14th Congressional District of Trovjord. Statsminister Stordahl is the first Statsminister in King Aleksandr IV's reign, and is the leader of the Conservative Party.
Harald Stordahl was born into the noble and very wealthy Stordahl family to Viscount Elias Stordahl of Vjerden and Countess Julia Stordahl. Harald's education began at the prestigious Carlen Primary School and later at the King Edmund II's Secondary School. When he left King Edmund's Secondary School, Harald gained entry to the nation's top law university; Nima University. There he graduated in Law and began an internship with Christopher Janeden, his local Congressman. At the age of 27, Harald won his first election and became a councillor for the city of Djorban. After a succesful two terms, he ran for Mayor and was succesful. From the age of 33 to 42, Harald Stordahl served 3 terms as Mayor of Djorban and then went on to run for Congress. He succesfully won the election to the province of Trovjard's 14th Congressional District and has continued to serve as the District's congressman to this day.
After his party lost control of the House of Representatives and became the opposition party in 2007, Harald made a bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party. The leader at the time, Jenna Lordbern, had lost the General Election but still tried to keep control of the party. The leadership battle was long and hostile but in the end when it came to the vote, Stordahl won a decisive victory carrying 78% of the vote. Five years later, Stordahl led his party into the General Election and won, securing himself a large majority of 112 seats above the required 225, the largest of any conservative leader in over 50 years. In 2017, Harald Stordahl led his party into another General Election as leader. They secured a smaller majority of 58 seats above the required 225. Even though they lost 54 seats, no Conservative Congressman/woman challenged Stordahl for the leadership of the party.
In 2016, Harald Stordahl succeeded his late father to become the 12th Viscount of Vjerden, making him the 1st Statsminister in over 25 years to also be a peer of the realm. Political analysts believed this would hurt his chances of re-election in the 2017 election but studies later showed that it did not.
Political Career
Stordahl, whilst electorally succesful, has had major political difficulties on his rise to the highest political office in the realm. His first obstacle was in 1988 when he ran for Mayor of the provincial capital of Trovjord; Djorban. Stordahl was up against the incumbent, Christopher Magnuson, who had just introduced a new popular education and entitlements programme for the city. Stordahl was losing heavily in the polls, polling 24 points behind Magnuson. Two months from election day, new estimates were released by the Provincial Budgeting Office which predicted that the city would rack up a staggering deficit due to the education and entitlements programme. Over night, Stordahl's position in the polls dramatically changed and within two weeks, he had earned name recognition and closed the gap in the polls due to his austerity platform and economic positions. In the end, the election was close with Stordahl winning with just 1,241 votes above that of his opponent.
Titles, Styles, Honours and Awards
12th October 1955 - 3rd October 1987: Lord Harald Stordahl
3rd October 1988 - 15th February 2007: The Honourable Lord Harald Stordahl
15th February 2007 - 3rd October 2013: The Right Honourable Lord Harald Stordahl, PC
3rd October 2013 - 12th July 2016: The Right Honourable Harald Stordahl, CGE PC
12th July 2016 - present: His Lordship, The Right Honourable Harald Stordahl, Viscount of Vjerden, CGE PC
When Harald Stordahl became leader of the opposition in 2007 he was invited to join the Privy Council as is customary for the leader of His Majesty's most loyal opposition. Stordahl accepted and was thus made 'The Right Honourable'. When Stordahl became Statsminister in 2012, he was made a Commander of the Geordinian Empire as is customary for a Statsminister of Geordinia.