He was elected to the executive committee of the municipal council in his native Stord in 1983, was re-elected in 1987 but left in 1989 when entering the national parliament.

[3] He also served on several public committees in Stord; pertaining to such matters as wild game, the environment, industry and equality.

[3] Three years into his third term, Bondevik's centrist first cabinet fell due to a failed motion of confidence.

During this period, Akselsen's seat in parliament was taken by Sigurd Grytten and Rita Tveiten, the latter for two weeks in 2001.

The parliamentary opposition, including the Labour Party, held this to be necessary,[5] and Akselsen had marked himself as a strong supporter of natural gas power plants.

[3] He was re-elected again in 2005, but despite the return of Stoltenberg as Prime Minister, Akselsen was not selected to his cabinet—although stated to possess the "potential".

[3][14] One year before the 2009 Norwegian parliamentary election, Akselsen announced that he declined to stand for re-election.

Norwegian election researcher Anders Todal Jenssen stated that his specific declination is "probably problematic for [Norwegian Prime Minister] Stoltenberg", at a time when 31 politicians of the current red–green coalition had announced their withdrawal from Parliament.