Simen Velle
Norwegian politician (born 2000)

Simen Velle
Velle in 2022
Leader of the Progress Party's Youth
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 April 2022
First DeputyOle Jakob Warbo
Lars Balstad Løvold
Second DeputyClaudia Brännström
Sebastian Saltrø Ytrevik
Preceded byAndreas Brännström
Member of the Storting
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2025
ConstituencyOslo
Personal details
Born (2000-11-22) 22 November 2000 (age 25)
Asker Municipality, Akershus, Norway
PartyProgress (since 2017)

Simen Velle (born 22 November 2000) is a Norwegian politician serving as leader of the Progress Party's Youth since 2022 and a member of the Storting for Oslo since 2025.[1] From 2021 to 2022, he served as chairman of the Progress Party's Youth in Viken.[2][3]

Political career

Youth politics

Velle served as the leader of the Viken Progress Party's Youth from 2021 to 2022 and was elected leader of the national Progress Party's Youth in April 2022.[4] He was re-elected in 2024.[5] He built up a large social media following during his leadership, which became particularly prevalent during the 2023 school elections, where his party became the second largest.[6][7] Two years later, his party became the largest party at that year's school elections.[8]

He caused some controversy in February 2024 when he criticised dating and sex culture, calling it "tinderfied" and went on to argue that "some groups of men have access to all the girls while the rest don't get any". He also argued that equality had gone too far, citing that women had been lifted, which had gone at the expense of men. Though he went on to apologise for this claim, some critics accused him of arguing that female equality had stripped men of the chance of "getting laid".[9]

During his leadership, he had challenged and contradicted the national party on several key issues, including the legalisation of cannabis, sale of organs and polygamy.[10][11] He would however reverse course on legalisation of cannabis and opened for giving the police more equipment to combat the issue.[12][13][14]

Parliament

He was elected as a regular representative for Oslo at the 2025 election.[15] He was also appointed as his party's spokesperson on education.[16]

Personal life

Velle grew up in the suburb of Drengsrud in Asker Municipality, the oldest of two children. His parents separated when he was fifteen and shortly afterwards his father was diagnosed with Huntington's disease. He struggled with substance abuse until the age of nineteen and was apprehended by the police on two occasions. Velle describes his substance abuse as being a sort of self-medication for him at the time.[17] He further detailed this in an interview in April 2024, explaining also that he and two friends were arrested for possession of a total of 100 grams of cannabis.[18]

Bibliography

  • Velle, Simen (2025). 11 gode grunner til å våkne opp. Oslo, Norway: Aschehoug. ISBN 9788203455575.

References

  1. ^ "Simen Velle ny FpU-leder". Altaposten (in Norwegian). 10 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Simen Velle takker læreren Agnethe for at han kom seg gjennom videregående". Utdanning (in Norwegian). 8 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Simen Velle siktar på Stortinget: – Mange av problema vi unge står overfor, kan berre løysast av oss". Framtida.no (in Norwegian). 18 August 2025.
  4. ^ Solberg, Marthe (10 April 2022). "Simen Velle er ny FpU-leder" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Fremskrittspartiets Ungdom. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  5. ^ Østrem, Veslemøy Hedvig (14 April 2024). "Gjenvalgt som FpU-leder" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Altinget.dk. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Snart skolevalg: Fpu-lederen er Tiktok-kongen" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Nettavisen. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  7. ^ Skårdalsmo, Kristian (5 September 2023). "Høyre og Frp størst i skolevalget – flertall for høyresiden" (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  8. ^ Andersrød, Benjamin Vorsland; Einarsdóttir, Silja Björklund; Grønli, Håvard; Stoltze, Kaspara; Lerø, Truls Skram; Akkan, Ismail Burak (2 September 2025). "Frp med suveren seier i skolevalget" (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  9. ^ Dahl, Ingvill Dybfest; Rønning, Ida Kristin; Novikova, Ksenia (27 February 2024). "Forsker i datingdebatt: – Enklere for kvinner enn menn å få seksuell kontakt" (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Fpu-leder: Ja til flerkoneri og organsalg". Utrop (in Norwegian Bokmål). NTB. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  11. ^ Ruud, Solveig (28 April 2022). "FpU-leder Simen Velle taler Sylvi Listhaug midt imot på en rekke områder" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Aftenposten. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ^ Ording, Oda; Hagfors, Caisa Linea (2 February 2025). "Helomvending: - Dørmatta til Listhaug" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Børsen Dagbladet. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  13. ^ Huun Thomsen, Hans Jacob (6 February 2025). "Dette er flaut, Simen Velle" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  14. ^ Gunaratnam, Kamzy (5 June 2025). "En gang var Simen Velle en tydelig stemme" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Avisa Oslo. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  15. ^ "Velle, Simen" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Stortinget.no. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  16. ^ Lægland, Martin (7 October 2025). "Velle blir Frps nye utdanningssjef" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  17. ^ Myhren, Anders; Barka, Line; Isaksen, Martin Berg (24 September 2025). "Fikk sjokkbeskjed i familiemiddag: – Jeg kjente på en sorg" (in Norwegian Bokmål). TV2. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  18. ^ Lægland, Martin; Hoen, Espen Sjølingstad (30 April 2024). "Simen Velle i FpU forteller om narkodom: – Den største feilen jeg har gjort i mitt liv" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
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