Career
She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Rogaland in 1989, and was re-elected on one occasion. She had previously served as a deputy representative to the during the term 1985–1989. From 2002 to 2003, during the second cabinet Bondevik, Widvey was appointed State Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries.
From 2003 to 2004 she held the same position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2004 she was appointed Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, an office she left, along with the rest of the second cabinet Bondevik, after their 2005 election defeat.