Norway’s defence minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide, has became the country’s first female foreign minister, in a cabinet reshuffle that put the three most senior government jobs in the hands of women.

Søreide, 41, replaces Børge Brende, who is stepping down to take over as president of the World Economic Forum.

She is the first woman to become the top diplomat in Norway, a member of Nato.

Søreide joins the prime minister, Erna Solberg, and the finance minister, Siv Jensen, in holding the top three spots in the rightwing coalition government.

“We’re not the first in the world but it is a page in Norway’s history that is being written,” Solberg said at a press conference. The Philippines, Switzerland and Liberia have already had such a constellation, she added.

Like its Scandinavian neighbours, Norway is a pioneer in gender equality: in 1986, the Labour government of had almost as many female cabinet members as men, with eight out of 18.

Solberg also announced that Frank Bakke-Jensen would be taking over as defence minister, while his European affairs portfolio would be handed to newcomer Marit Berger Røsland.

In power since 2013, the right won a narrow victory in legislative elections on 11September.

According to Norwegian media, Solberg could announce another government reshuffle by the end of the year if the small centre-right Liberal party joins the minority coalition, made up of Solberg’s Conservatives and Jensen’s anti-immigration Progress party.