 Knut Arild Hareide ( born 23 November 1972 ) a Norwegian politician who serves as a member of parliament from Hordaland and as the current leader of the Christian Democratic Party . Hareide served as Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005 in the second Bondevik cabinet . In 2007 he announced he would step down from the national political scene for the time being , but he returned when he was nominated as the top candidate for the Christian Democratic Party ticket in Akershus in the 2009 election where he won the county 's leveling seat . After Dagfinn Høybråten stepped down as party leader , Hareide was unanimously elected to take his place at the 2011 party convention . In the 2013 election , Hareide was reelected to parliament , this time from his home county of Hordaland . 
