Astrid Gjertsen

In 1967, Gjertsen was elected to the Tvedestrand municipal council and served until 1975.^[3] From 1972 to 1975, she served as the leader of the Conservatives in Tvedestrand.^[8]

In 1969, she was elected as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Aust-Agder, and later as a parliamentary representative in 1973, as a member of the Conservative Party. From 1978 to 1982, she served as the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Right.^[3][9][8]

In 1974, she served as a deputy representative to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1978, she served as a member of the parliamentary delegation to the Nordic Council.^[1]

On 14 October 1981, she became the Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumers and Administration.^[8] She was one of four women in Kåre Willoch's cabinet.^[10] During her tenure, the telephone monopoly was disbanded; she supported deregulation, and supported allowing for longer shopping hours and Sunday shopping.^[11]

On 18 April 1986, she resigned from her ministry position and was convicted for turning in NOK 32,061 worth of fraudulent taxi receipts.^[12][13] She was given a 45-day suspended sentence and paid the money back; the punishment was higher than usual due to her political position.^[12][13][14] Gjertsen stopped being a deputy representative in 1989.^[1]

In a 2013 ranking compiled by the political editors of Verdens Gang, Gjertsen was rated the ninth most important woman in Norwegian history.^[9] On 17 June 2020, she died in Bærum, Norway.^[1][3]