Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen is a Norwegian diplomat and politician for the Socialist Left Party

Socialist Left Party (Norway)

The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...

.

Hailing from Halden

Halden

is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...

, he graduated as cand.jur. from the University of Tromsø

University of Tromsø

The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...

 in 1995. He had chaired the county chapters of Socialist Youth

Socialist Youth (Norway)

Socialist Youth is the youth league of the Socialist Left Party of Norway.The current head of the organisation is Olav Magnus Linge. SU considers itself a revolutionary party and wants to gain popular support for socialism in Norway. In this respect it differs from SV, the mother party.SU...

 in Østfold

Østfold

is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...

 (1985-1988) and Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 (1990-1991). He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Østfold during the term 1989–1993, and was a member of Halden city council from 1991 to 1995.

He worked as a consultant in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of health policy, public health, health care services and health legislation in Norway....

 in 1995. In 1997 he began a career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...

, climbing to the positions of embassy secretary in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 (1999-2002) and Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

 (2006-2007).

In November 2007 he was appointed State Secretary

State Secretary (Norway)

In Norway, a State Secretary is a partisan political position within the executive branch of government. Contrary to the position Secretary of State in many other countries, the Norwegian State Secretary does not head his or her Ministry, rather, they are second in rank to a Minister...

to the Minister of International Development.