Anniken Scharning Huitfeldt (born 29 November 1969 in Bærum

Bærum

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....

) is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 politician representing the Norwegian Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

. She currently serves as the Norwegian Minister of Culture in the Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

.

Life

Huitfeldt grew up in the small town of Jessheim

Jessheim

Jessheim is a large village in the Ullensaker municipality in Akershus of Norway.The name "Jessheim" is from Norse Jasseimr or Jesseímr where the first part has unknown origin, while the second part means home. It is also possible that the first part "Jess" can mean jarl or jarls...

, north of Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. From 1996 to 2000 she was the leader of the Workers' Youth League

Workers' Youth League (Norway)

The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

, the youth wing of the Labour Party.

After the 2005 parliamentary elections

Norwegian parliamentary election, 2005

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 12 September 2005. More than 3.4 million Norwegians were eligible for vote for the Storting, the parliament of Norway. The new Storting has 169 members, an increase of four over the 2001 election....

, she became a representative of Akershus

Akershus

- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...

 in the Storting; she had been a deputy representative in 1993-1997 and 2001-2005.

On February 29, 2008 she became Minister of Children and Equality

Minister of Children and Equality (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Children and Equality is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Children and Equality. Before 2006 the title was Minister of Children and Family Affairs and before 1990 Minister of Children and Consumer Affairs....

 in the Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

and in October 2009 left this position to become Minister of Culture.