Vidar Kleppe
| Vidar Kleppe | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament from Vest-Agder |
|
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In office 1989–1993 |
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In office 1997–2001 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 September 1963 Bergen, Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Political party |
Progress Party (1980s–2001) Southern Norway List (2001) Democrats (2002–) |
| Children | Three |
| Residence | Kristiansand, Norway |
Vidar Sveinung Kleppe (born 16 September 1963) is a Norwegian politician. He was a Member of Parliament and deputy leader of the Progress Party until he was suspended and left the party in 2001. He was the leader of the Democrats party from 2002 to 2012, and has since 2003 held office as a member of the Vest-Agder county council and the Kristiansand municipal council.
Kleppe was born in Bergen, Norway to CEO Erling Kleppe (1941–1989) and his wife Harriet Uthaug (born 1944), and was raised in Fedje. He received education at a mechanical school from 1980 to 1981, and after this went to sea for a year. When he came back he worked as an industrial labourer in Kristiansand for four years, until 1987 when he was a businessman for two years. As of July 2007 he is married and have three children, and is occupied as a seller. For his wedding, Jan Simonsen was his best man.
Kleppe was a prominent politician for the Progress Party during the 1990s, and was a member of their national board from 1989 to 1999. He was a Member of Parliament for two periods, from 1989 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2001. From 1995 to 1999 he was the second deputy leader of the party. He also held the office as a member of the Kristiansand municipal council from 1987 to 1999. During electoral campaigns in 1999, Kleppe, together with his close party colleague Øystein Hedstrøm, notably ran numerous campaigns together, popularly known as the "Hedstrøm & Kleppe Show", where they discussed issues regarding immigration and integration.
In early 2001 turmoil however erupted within the Progress Party, and Kleppe was suspended and soon left the party, in spite of strong opposition to the suspension in many local chapters of the party. Kleppe was seen by party chairman Carl I. Hagen as a "leader" of a rebellious faction of the party, as well as being controversial, because of his positions on immigration as well as other issues where he contradicted the official party policy. He was also accused of not being a "constructive team player." His earlier history was toppled when Kleppe attacked then deputy leader Terje Søviknes in the turmoil around the sex scandal he was involved with at the time, insinuating him of fooling around with young girls and possible sexual assaults.
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