Ingvild Kjerkol, Norway’s health minister, has resigned following allegations of plagiarism in her master’s thesis. The Nord University in Bodoe, where Kjerkol completed her thesis in 2021, conducted a probe and found a significant amount of plagiarism. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced at a press conference that Kjerkol’s resignation was necessary, as the plagiarism was deemed intentional.
Kjerkol is the second government member this year to be embroiled in academic plagiarism allegations. In January, Sandra Borch resigned as minister for research and higher education after similarities were found between her master’s thesis and another author’s work, including spelling mistakes.
Gahr Støre’s coalition has experienced multiple ministerial resignations in recent months for various reasons. In September, it was revealed that the husband of the then Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt had been trading stocks without her knowledge, resulting in her stepping down. Additionally, the ruling Labor party faced a defeat in local elections by the conservative Hoeyre party in September, marking the first time since 1924 that Labor did not come out on top in local elections. The party, which had long been Norway’s largest party in local elections, came second in the September elections across the country.
