Bjørg Kirsten Sandal is a Norwegian director and politician for the 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....

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She is from Tennebø

Tennebø

Tennebø is a village in the municipality of Vågsøy in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located about southeast of Degnepoll and about from the municipal center of Måløy. The lake Degnepollvatnet is just north of the village of Tennebø...

 in Sogn og Fjordane

Sogn og Fjordane

is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde....

, and a sister of fellow politician Reidar Sandal

Reidar Sandal

Reidar Sandal is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, and was a parliamentary representative for Sogn and Fjordane. He was Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs 1995-1996 and 1996-1997.-References:...

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A cand.mag.

Cand.mag.

Candidatus magisterii , Candidata magisterii , i.e. Latin Candidate of Arts, abbreviated cand.mag., is an academic degree used in Denmark, and formerly in Norway and Iceland, roughly corresponding to an American Master of Arts and officially translated as such...

 by education, she was hired to the Phillips Petroleum Company in Norway in 1987. During the first cabinet Stoltenberg

First cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's First Cabinet governed Norway between March 17, 2000 and October 19, 2001. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. It had the following composition.-Cabinet members:-State Secretaries:-References:...

, Sandal was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is a Norwegian ministry responsible for energy, including petroleum and natural gas production in the North Sea. It is led by Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe...

. She held the position until after the 2001 elections

Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001

A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...

, which caused the cabinet to fall. In 2002, she became director of communications of the Western Norway Regional Health Authority

Western Norway Regional Health Authority

Western Norway Regional Health Authority is a state-owned Regional Health Authority responsible for operating the hospitals in the counties of Rogaland, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane in Norway. Based in Stavanger the authority operates five health trusts that operate nine hospitals...

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She served in the position of deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Rogaland

Rogaland

is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...

during the term 2005–2009.