Jens Stoltenberg, leader of the Labour Party, was negative towards the idea of having any representatives from the Red Electoral Alliance in parliament, saying that the voters should do anything in their power to stop them from earning a seat in parliament. When the votes were counted Folkvord did not gain a seat in parliament. Folkvord later accused many of the prominent members of the Oslo City Council of being involved, or having been involved, in corruption. André Støylen of the Conservative Party said Folkvord should stop accusing and instead go to the police with proof if he had any. On 27 February 2007 Folkvord announced he would seek another term in the City Council. Folkvord was re-elected lead candidate for the municipal election at the party convention. In March 2007 the Red Electoral Alliance and the Workers' Communist Party merged and established Red. By 3 September, six days before the election day, Red earned its best showing ever in Oslo earning 4.4% in an opinion poll — an increase of 0.3% from the previous election. When the votes for the municipality of Oslo were counted the party had managed to gain three seats on the City Council, with Folkvord's position secure. At national level Red had received 1.9% and 2.1% for the municipal and county elections respectively. During the 2009 election several opinion polls showed that Folkvord and Dahle had enough support to earn two seats in parliament. Jens Stoltenberg and Kristin Halvorsen from the Red-Green Coalition were both highly negative towards the idea of having Red in parliament. Folkvord stated several times that he would demand an immediate withdrawal of Norwegian troops from Afghanistan if elected to parliament. He said this decision involved both the "enthusiastic warriors of the Progress Party" and "the disillusioned skeptics of the Socialist Left". Folkvord later felt he needed to set pressure on the Labour Party which would, according to him, move them further to the left. Labour Party member Reiulf Steen had reacted positively towards the idea of having Folkvord in parliament saying, "I am a great admirer of Erling Folkvord. He has integrity and great courage. Besides I am overjoyed that Red supports the Red-Green coalition". When the votes were counted Red had an increase of 1% from the 2005 election, but it was not enough to secure Folkvord a seat in parliament. When all the votes were counted the party had gained 1.3% of the national vote, an increase of 0.1%.