Lubna Boby Jaffery (born 2 April 1980) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has served as minister of culture and equality since 2023 and a member of parliament for Hordaland since 2025. She previously served as a deputy member for the same constituency from 2009 to 2025 and Bergen city commissioner for labour, social affairs, and housing from 2019 to 2021. In 2020 she was one of the signatories of the "Call for Inclusive Feminism," which led to the establishment of the Initiative for Inclusive Feminism.
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Early life and education
Born in Norway to parents of Pakistani origin, she grew up in Bergen. She took her secondary education in Åsane in 1999, and at the University of Bergen she took the cand.mag. degree in 2004 and the master's degree in 2007. Jaffery married Lennart Fjell in 2003, they got divorced in 2010 and they have one daughter together.
Political career
Youth league
She was an adviser in the Workers' Youth League in 2000, before becoming a central board member from 2000 to 2004. She had previously chaired the county branch from 1998 to 2000.
Local politics
Jaffery was a member of the Bergen city council from 1999 to 2003 and the municipal council of Fjell Municipality from 2003 to 2007.
In 2019, she was appointed Bergen City Commissioner for Labour, Social Affairs and Housing in the Roger Valhammer city government. She resigned from this position when she was promoted to permanent representative in the Storting to cover the duties of Marte Mjøs Persen. She was succeeded by Ruth Grung as city commissioner.
Government
In 2008, Jaffery was appointed a political advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. From March to October 2009 she was a political advisor for the Minister of Health and Care Services. From 2009 to 2012 she was a State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture as a part of Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet.
Parliament
Jaffery served as a deputy representative in the Storting for Hordaland from 2009 to 2025, having been re-elected in 2013, 2017 and 2021. From 2021 to 2023, she deputised for Marte Mjøs Persen after she was appointed to the Støre cabinet. In the Storting, she sat as a member of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services in 2021, before being moved to the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs, where she also served as first vice chair between 2021 and 2023.
She was elected as a regular representative for Hordaland in 2025. While serving in government, June Trengereid Gruer has deputised for her since 2025.
Minister of Culture and Equality
Jaffery was appointed minister of culture and equality on 28 June 2023 following Anette Trettebergstuen's resignation due to impartiality issues.
In July, she attended the Moldejazz music festival, and in commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the 2011 Norway attacks, called for action against outsiderness and extremism, and to secure local communities.
A day before the 2024 state budget was presented, Jaffery confirmed that the government would be allocating 10 million NOK to combat sports poverty for children youths in what the government designated as an "ambitious" action plan.
On 30 November, Jaffery and TV2 signed a new commercial public broadcasting agreement for the channel for the new term from 2024 to 2028.
In December, Jaffery announced the government's strategy for gaming, which was originally meant to be put forward the year before. With the announcement, she stated that politics should be more offensive in that regard and that with the strategy, the field would lifted up more.
Following the release of a UN report into racism in Norway, Jaffery pledged that the government would take the report into consideration and continue the fight against racism and discrimination. She went on to highlight the importance of inclusion and that the discrimination level is low in the country.
Jaffery received the report into male equality from the commission specialising in said issues in April. The report concluded that some measures against more male equality would be to have a two parted paternity leave, more flexible school starts and increased recruitment of men to more female dominated jobs. Jaffery highlighted that there are still inequality gaps between genders and that the declining birth rates were worrying.
In late June, she announced that the government would be postponing the implementation of a third gender in identification papers until 2032, on the recommendation of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. Furthermore she stated that national supervision would be implemented for public and private actors for gender diversity.
Political positions
In 2020 she was one of the signatories of the "Call for Inclusive Feminism," a document which led to the establishment of the Initiative for Inclusive Feminism.