[14] A week after becoming minister, Gjelsvik expressed support to soften the "beach zone", and let municipalities to override state regulations in the districts.

[16] At a press conference on 29 April, the government announced that temporary changes to laws in order to include Ukrainian refugees.

[17] On 7 June, Gjelsvik announced that the government would look into separating Kristiansand municipality after Søgne and Songdalen were merged with it, with heavy opposition from the latter's populations.

[19] On 2 August, the Norwegian government announced that it would be covering parts of the costs of an eventual split of the merged municipality of Kinn.

Gjelsvik stated: "I want to give the municipality and the population predictability around the financial framework of a possible reversal process, before they make their assessment of whether Kinn should be split.

He reasoned that it would only entice conspiracy theories and couple opposition to the EEA agreement (which was used as an example in the report) with extreme political views.

The Green Party asserted that Gjelsvik let his believes stand in the way for public debate and questioned if he was suitable to recognise the issues the report brought up.

Gjelsvik however stood by his claims, and added that the report mixed "fiction and reality" that could "derail the debate", and "sow doubts about the Norwegian electoral system".

Later the same day, prime minister Støre expressed praise for Gjelsvik while the report was simultaneously publicly released on the government's website.

[26] Gjelsvik responded to criticism from the Red Party in December regarding the appointment of Kristoffer Thoner as an advisor at the Prime Minister's office.

Thoner's appointment caused controversy due to his confidential customer lists when he worked for McKinsey & Company.

Ålesund had previously threatened to stop the split between the two merged municipalities if the government didn't say how they would cover the bill of a reversal.

The mayor, Eva Vinje Aurdal, had expressed optimism following the meeting, and also hoped for the reversal to be done before the September local elections and the next year.

[28] In February, the Kristiansand Municipal Council voted against separating Søgne and Songdalen from its current structure, in addition to rejecting a referendum on the matter.

[29] In June, Gjelsvik announced that the government would give 68 million NOK to Troms og Finnmark county to be spent on separation and that there would be a deduction for remaining uncertain costs.

[30] In September, media revealed that Gjelsvik had inappropriately kissed a female subordinate at a pub in August 2022 during a staff celebration.