AUF leader Gaute Skjervø steps down ahead of autumn congress

Gaute Skjervø, the 30-year-old leader of Norway’s Labour Youth League (AUF), will not seek re-election at the organisation’s national congress this autumn, he announced Sunday.

In a Facebook post, Skjervø wrote that his time as leader would end when delegates gather in October, closing a chapter that began in 2024. He previously served four years as deputy leader and has been a member of AUF’s central board since 2018.

“I’m proud of the work our entire team has done to ensure AUF once again has the strength needed to carry both the history and future of the Labour Party,” he stated. Without AUF’s efforts, he argued, Labour would not have secured its re-election, and the youth wing must continue to “renew and challenge” the party in the years ahead.

Skjervø, who survived the 2011 Utøya terror attack as one of the youngest participants at AUF’s summer camp, described the island in his post as “paradise” before the tragedy. “Many who laughed carefree the day before never came home. Many who did return never regained the sense of security or freedom they had known before,” he wrote.

Addressing recent online abuse, he acknowledged the toll of public threats and harassment, confirming in a May interview with VG that he had installed a personal violence alarm. “This spring, we chose to speak openly about the downside of raising your voice in public—where the loudest voices often win,” he said, calling the impact of threats and hate speech “enormous.”

Skjervø closed his statement with the organisation’s informal motto: “Once an AUF member, always an AUF member.”