11 Facts About Lars Sponheim

Lars Sponheim was born on 23 May 1957 and is a Norwegian politician.

Lars Sponheim was leader of the Liberal Party from 1996 to 2010.

Lars Sponheim was a member of the Storting from 1993 to 2009, and a government minister from 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2005.

Lars Sponheim served as County Governor of Vestland from 2010 to 2022, having served as the County Governor of Hordaland from 2010 until the office was merged with that of neighboring Sogn og Fjordane in 2019.

Lars Sponheim is a farmer, and with his family he runs the ancestral farm, Sponheim, in Ulvik.

Lars Sponheim was elected to parliament as the Liberal Party's only representative in the 1993 election.

Lars Sponheim is the longest serving leader in the party's history.

Lars Sponheim used this position to promote Norwegian food in general and local agricultural specialties in particular, and to implement reforms aimed at making Norwegian agriculture more competitive.

Lars Sponheim gained much publicity for criticizing Norwegians traveling to Sweden in order to buy cheaper food, calling it "Harry".

Lars Sponheim was elected to a fourth consecutive term in the Storting in the 2005 election.

On 19 March 2010, it was announced that Lars Sponheim would become the new County Governor of Hordaland, replacing the retiring Svein Alsaker.