Marit Arnstad is a Norwegian lawyer and politician.

Arnstad was born in Stjørdal

Stjørdal

is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stjørdal, also called Stjørdalshalsen...

. She held various jobs and offices before entering politics on a national level in 1993. That year, she was elected to the Storting and sat as a representative for the Centre Party

Centre Party (Norway)

The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...

 from 1993 to 1997. Following the 1997 election

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997

A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 15 September 1997. Before the election, Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party, issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained...

, she took a seat in Kjell Magne Bondevik

Kjell Magne Bondevik

Kjell Magne Bondevik is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician . He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him Norway's longest serving non-Labour Party Prime Minister since World War II...

's first Cabinet as Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 17 October 1997 to 17 March 2000, when the government resigned over the issue of gas power stations. In 2001 she was once again elected to the Storting, where she sat until 2005.
After the Norwegian parliamentary election of 2005

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 was mentioned by many as a possible Minister, should there be a new government involving the Centre Party. Indeed the Centre Party came to power in coalition with Labour

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....

 and the Socialist Left

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...

, but Arnstad did not become member of the current government.