Icelandic parliamentary election, 2016

Last updated
Icelandic parliamentary election, 2016

Flag of Iceland.svg

←  2013 29 October 2016 2017  →
All 63 seats in the Althing
32 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 79.19% Decrease2.svg2.3

 First partySecond partyThird party
  Bjarni Benediktsson vid Nordiska Radets session i Stockholm.jpg Katrin Jakobsdottir, undervisnings- forsknings- og kulturminister i Island, samt samarbejdsminister i Nordisk Ministerrad.jpg Birgitta Jonsdottir 2015.jpg
Leader Bjarni Benediktsson Katrín Jakobsdóttir Birgitta Jónsdóttir [n 1]
Party Independence Left-Green Pirates
Leader since29 March 200924 February 201324 November 2012
Last election19 seats, 26.70%7 seats, 10.87%3 seats, 5.10%
Seats won
21 / 63
10 / 63
10 / 63
Seat changeIncrease2.svg2Increase2.svg3Increase2.svg7
Popular vote54,99030,16627,449
Percentage29.0%15.9%14.5%
SwingIncrease2.svg2.3%Increase2.svg5.0%Increase2.svg9.4%
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson 2016 (cropped).png Ottarr Proppe, ESC2014 Meet & Greet (crop).jpg
Leader Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson Benedikt Jóhannesson Óttarr Proppé
Party Progressive Reform Bright Future
Leader since2 October 201624 May 201631 January 2015
Last election19 seats, 24.43%Did not contest6 seats, 8.25%
Seats won
8 / 63
7 / 63
4 / 63
Seat changeDecrease2.svg11Increase2.svg7Decrease2.svg2
Popular vote21,79119,87013,578
Percentage11.5%10.5%7.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg 12.9%Increase2.svg10.5%Decrease2.svg1.5%
 Seventh party
  No image.svg
Leader Oddný G. Harðardóttir
Party Social Democratic
Leader since3 June 2016
Last election9 seats, 12.85%
Seats won
3 / 63
Seat changeDecrease2.svg6
Popular vote10,893
Percentage5.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg7.1%
Prime Minister before election

Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson
Progressive

Elected Prime Minister

Bjarni Benediktsson
Independence

Iceland
Coat of arms of Iceland.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Iceland
Constitution

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 29 October 2016. They were due to be held on or before 27 April 2017, but following the 2016 Icelandic anti-government protests, the ruling coalition announced that early elections would be held "in autumn". [3] [4]

The 2016 Icelandic anti-government protests were a series of protests against the Icelandic government following the release of the Panama Papers.

Contents

The Independence Party emerged as the largest in the Althing, winning 21 of the 63 seats; the Progressive Party, which had won the most seats in 2013, lost more than half its seats as it was overtaken by the Left-Green Movement and the Pirate Party. Of the 63 elected MPs, 30 were female, giving Iceland the highest proportion of female MPs in Europe. [5]

Independence Party (Iceland) political party in Iceland

The Independence Party is a liberal-conservative, Eurosceptic political party in Iceland. It is currently the largest party in the Althing, with 16 seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson. The secretary of the party is Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir.

Althing unicameral parliament of Iceland

The Alþingi is the national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world, a claim shared by Tynwald. The Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, situated approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík. Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1800, when it was discontinued for 45 years. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, made of hewn Icelandic stone.

Progressive Party (Iceland) political party in Iceland

The Progressive Party is a centre-right, populist and agrarian political party in Iceland. For most of its history, the Progressive Party has governed with the centre-right liberal conservative Independence Party.

A new coalition was formed on 10 January 2017, consisting of the Independence Party, the Reform Party and Bright Future, with Bjarni Benediktsson becoming Prime Minister on 11 January 2017. [6]

Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970) former Prime Minister of Iceland

Bjarni Benediktsson, known colloquially as Bjarni Ben, is an Icelandic politician, who served as Prime Minister from January 2017 to November 2017. He has been the leader of the Icelandic Independence Party since 2009, and previously served as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs from 2013 to 2017.

Background

In early April 2016, following revelations in the Panama Papers, leaks from law firm Mossack Fonseca about the financial dealings of then Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (Progressive Party) and his wife, there were calls for an early election from the opposition, [7] who planned to present him with a motion of no confidence. Mass protests calling on the Prime Minister to quit followed. Although Sigmundur Davíð had stated he had no intention of resigning, he apparently resigned on 5 April. However, it was later stated by the Prime Minister's office that he had only taken a temporary leave of absence from his duties. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] The Progressive Party's deputy leader, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, became acting Prime Minister the same day. [11]

Panama Papers Release of 11.5 million documents created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source.

Mossack Fonseca law firm and corporate service provider based in Panama

Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Spanish pronunciation: [mos.ˈsak̚k fõn.ˈse.ka] was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider,. It was, at one time, the world's fourth largest provider of offshore financial services. From its 1977 foundation until the April 2016 publication of the Panama Papers it remained mostly obscure, even though it sat at the heart of the global offshore industry, and acted for about 300,000 companies. More than half are registered in British tax havens – as well as in the UK. The firm received worldwide media attention in April 2016, when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published information about its clients' financial dealings in the Panama Papers articles, following the release of an enormous cache of its documents from between 1970 and 2015 leaked to the news media. Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who led the disclosure efforts, was subsequently murdered by a car bomb on October 16, 2017.

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson prime minister of Iceland 2013 - 2016

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is an Icelandic politician who was the youngest serving Prime Minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to the Althing as the 8th member for the Reykjavík Constituency North on 25 April 2009. He has represented the Northeast Constituency as its 1st member since 27 April 2013.

The President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, then said he would speak to both coalition parties, Progressive Party and Independence Party, before considering whether to call new elections. [12] Opposition parties continued to press for new elections. [10] On 6 April, Sigurður announced, "We expect to have elections this autumn." [13] On 11 August, Bjarni Benediktsson met with opposition parties and later announced that elections would be held on 29 October 2016. [4]

Electoral system

The 63 members of the Althing were elected using closed list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies of 8 to 13 seats. [14] Of the 63 seats, 54 were elected using constituency results and determined using the d'Hondt method. The remaining nine supplementary seats were awarded to parties that crossed the 5% national electoral threshold in order to give them a total number of seats equivalent to their national share of the vote. [14]

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can (effectively) only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters have at least some influence then it is called an open list.

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

The D'Hondt method or the Jefferson method is a highest averages method for allocating seats, and is thus a type of party-list proportional representation. The method described is named in the United States after Thomas Jefferson, who introduced the method for proportional allocation of seats in the United States House of Representatives in 1791, and in Europe after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt, who described it in 1878 for proportional allocation of parliamentary seats to the parties. There are two forms: closed list and an open list.

Participating parties

The final deadline for parties to apply for participation in the parliamentary election was 14 October 2016.

Parties with a list for all constituencies
Parties with a list for only some constituencies

Campaign

Sigurður Ingi replaced Sigmundur Davíð as the party chairman of the Progressive Party on 2 October 2016. [15]

The Pirate Party announced on 16 October 2016 that they would not participate in post-election negotiations to form a coalition government with either the Progressive Party or the Independence Party. [16] The party did send letters to Reform, Bright Future, Social Democratic Alliance and Left-Green Movement about the possibility of forming an alliance prior to the election. [16]

Opinion polls

Graphical summary of the opinion polls in Iceland since the previous parliamentary election. Each dot corresponds to one poll's number for party. A smoothing spline is used to show the trends. The scatter of points around the spline curves gives an indication of the uncertainty of the polls. The thin circles at the very right show the results of the election, which for P and D deviate significantly from the polls. Iceland opinion polls.svg
Graphical summary of the opinion polls in Iceland since the previous parliamentary election. Each dot corresponds to one poll's number for party. A smoothing spline is used to show the trends. The scatter of points around the spline curves gives an indication of the uncertainty of the polls. The thin circles at the very right show the results of the election, which for P and D deviate significantly from the polls.
InstituteRelease date V S P A B D C OthersLead
Gallup 28 Oct 201616.5%7.4%17.9%6.8%9.3%27.0%8.8%9.1%
MMR 28 Oct 201616.2%6.1%20.5%6.7%11.4%24.7%8.9%5.5%4.2%
Háskóli Íslands 27 Oct 201616.8%5.7%21.2%6.7%10.1%22.5%11.4%5.5%1.3%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 27 Oct 201616.4%5.7%18.4%6.3%9.9%27.3%10.5%5.5%8.9%
MMR 26 Oct 201616.0%7.6%19.1%8.8%10.0%21.9%9.3%7.3%2.8%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 26 Oct 201616.4%6.0%20.3%5.1%11.2%25.1%10.8%5.1%4.8%
Háskóli Íslands 21 Oct 201618.6%6.5%22.6%6.0%9.1%21.1%8.8%7.3%1.5%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 18 Oct 201619.2%6.5%20.7%7.4%8.5%23.7%6.6%7.4%3.0%
MMR 14 Oct 201614.5%9.0%19.6%8.2%9.2%21.4%10.2%7.9%1.8%
Háskóli Íslands 14 Oct 201617.7%6.9%17.5%7.7%8.6%21.5%11.4%8.7%4.0%
Gallup 14 Oct 201614.5%7.1%18.3%7.7%9.8%22.6%12.4%7.6%4.3%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 12 Oct 201615.1%7.3%22.8%8.2%8.5%22.7%8.4%7.0%0.1%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 5 Oct 201612.6%8.8%19.2%6.9%11.4%25.9%6.9%8.3%6.7%
Gallup 30 Sep 201615.6%8.5%20.6%4.7%8.2%23.7%13.4%5.4%3.1%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 28 Sep 201612.9%5.9%19.9%3.6%12.6%34.6%7.3%3.2%14.7%
MMR 26 Sep 201611.5%9.3%21.6%4.9%12.2%20.6%12.3%6.7%1.0%
MMR 22 Sep 201613.2%8.1%22.7%4.1%11.0%22.7%11.5%6.7%Tied
Gallup 16 Sep 201613.5%8.8%23.1%2.9%9.4%25.5%12.2%4.6%1.4%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 8 Sep 201612.7%7.5%29.5%2.0%10.7%28.2%6.7%2.7%1.3%
Gallup 6 Sep 201616.2%8.3%25.8%2.9%9.0%26.3%10.6%0.9%0.5%
MMR 30 Aug 201612.4%9.1%22.4%4.5%10.6%24.6%8.8%7.6%2.2%
Gallup 29 Jul 201616.8%8.0%25.3%4.2%9.9%26.2%9.0%0.6%0.9%
MMR 25 Jul 201612.9%8.4%26.8%3.9%8.3%24.0%9.4%6.3%2.8%
MMR 7 Jul 201618.0%10.9%24.3%2.9%6.4%25.3%6.7%5.4%1.0%
Gallup 29 Jun 201615.2%8.2%27.9%3.4%10.0%25.1%9.4%0.8%2.8%
Háskóli Íslands 24 Jun 201617.0%9.0%28.0%4.5%9.5%19.7%9.7%2.6%8.3%
Háskóli Íslands 14 Jun 201615.9%7.6%29.9%2.9%11.1%22.7%9.1%0.8%7.2%
Háskóli Íslands 4 Jun 201616.5%7.2%28.3%3.8%11.8%23.9%7.9%0.6%4.4%
Gallup 1 Jun 201616.8%7.7%27.4%4.0%10.2%28.5%4.3%1.1%1.1%
Fréttablaðið / Stöð 2 / Vísir 27 May 201618.1%6.1%28.7%2.5%7.3%31.5%5.8%2.8%
Háskóli Íslands 17 May 201618.9%8.9%25.8%4.8%8.2%28.2%3.5%1.7%2.4%
MMR 13 May 201615.8%7.5%31.0%4.9%10.4%26.3%2.5%4.7%
Fréttablaðið 12 May 201619.8%7.4%30.3%3.1%6.5%31.1%1.8%0.8%
Fréttablaðið 6 May 201614.0%8.4%31.8%4.0%8.3%29.9%3.6%1.9%
MMR 3 May 201614.0%9.7%28.9%3.4%11.2%27.8%5.0%1.1%
Gallup 30 Apr 201618.4%8.3%26.6%5.2%10.5%27.0%3.5%0.5%0.4%
Gallup 13 Apr 201619.8%9.0%29.3%5.0%6.9%26.7%2.7%0.6%2.6%
Háskóli Íslands 8 Apr 201614.7%9.5%30.9%4.8%12.9%23.3%3.9%7.6%
Maskína 8 Apr 201620.0%7.2%34.2%5.2%9.4%21.3%2.7%12.9%
Gallup 7 Apr 201616.7%7.6%32.4%5.6%10.8%21.9%3.3%1.7%11.5%
MMR 6 Apr 201612.8%9.9%36.7%5.8%8.7%22.5%3.6%12.2%
Fréttablaðið 5 Apr 201611.2%10.2%43.0%3.8%7.9%21.6%2.3%21.4%
Háskóli Íslands 5 Apr 201614.9%8.1%39.4%4.4%10.0%18.8%4.4%20.6%
Gallup 31 Mar 201611.0%9.5%36.1%3.2%12.0%23.2%2.1%2.9%12.9%
MMR 18 Mar 20169.3%9.2%38.3%4.2%12.4%22.9%3.4%15.4%
Fréttablaðið 9 Mar 20168.4%8.2%38.1%1.8%12.8%27.6%3.1%10.5%
MMR 2 Mar 20167.8%7.8%37.0%4.2%12.8%23.4%7%13.6%
Gallup 2 Mar 201610.8%9.7%35.9%3.3%11.0%23.7%5.6%12.2%
Gallup 2 Feb 201610.8%9.2%35.3%3.6%12.0%24.4%4.7%10.9%
MMR 2 Feb 201611.0%9.4%35.6%4.4%12.2%21.1%5.9%14.5%
Fréttablaðið 30 Jan 20169.6%9.9%41.8%1.6%10.2%23.2%3.7%18.6%
Gallup 2 Jan 201610.2%10.4%33.1%4.2%12.0%25.2%4.9%7.9%
MMR 18 Dec 201511.4%12.9%34.9%5.3%11.5%20.6%3.4%14.3%
Gallup 4 Dec 201511.4%10.1%32.9%3.9%12.0%24.8%4.9%8.1%
MMR 16 Nov 20159.9%10.5%35.3%4.6%10.8%23.7%5.2%11.6%
Gallup 4 Nov 201511.1%10.6%35.5%4.6%9.6%24.6%4.4%0.9%
MMR 21 Oct 201511.8%11.3%34.2%6.5%10.4%21.7%4.1%12.5%
Gallup 2 Oct 201510.6%10.1%34.6%5.6%10.1%24.4%4.6%10.2%
MMR 3 Sep 20159.6%10.6%33.0%5.8%11.4%25.3%4.3%7.7%
Gallup 1 Sep 201511.8%9.3%35.9%4.4%11.1%21.7%5.8%14.2%
Gallup 7 Aug 20158.9%12.2%32.3%5.0%12.4%24.0%5.2%8.3%
MMR 4 Aug 201510.2%9.6%35.0%4.4%12.2%23.1%5.5%7.9%
MMR 30 Jun 201512.0%9.3%33.2%5.6%10.6%23.8%5.5%9.4%
Rúv 29 Jun 201510.3%11.4%32.0%6.4%11.3%24.5%4.1%7.5%
MMR 25 Jun 201510.5%11.6%32.4%6.8%10.0%23.3%5.4%9.1%
FBL 19 Jun 20157.3%11.1%37.5%3.3%8.5%29.5%2.8%8.0%
MMR 16 Jun 201511.1%11.8%34.5%6.7%11.3%21.2%3.5%13.3%
Gallup 1 Jun 20159.8%12.4%34.1%7.4%8.9%23.0%4.3%11.1%
MMR 26 May 201510.4%13.1%32.7%6.3%8.6%23.1%5.6%9.6%
MMR 4 May 201510.8%10.7%32.0%8.3%10.8%21.9%5.5%10.1%
Gallup 30 Apr 201510.6%14.1%30.1%7.8%10.1%22.9%4.4%9.2%
Gallup 30 Mar 201510.1%15.8%21.7%10.9%10.8%25.0%5.7%3.3%
Kjarninn 26 Mar 201510.2%16.1%23.6%10.1%11.0%24.8%4.2%1.2%
MMR 21 Mar 20159.0%16.3%29.1%9.0%11.6%23.4%1.7%5.7%
MMR 18 Mar 201510.8%15.5%23.9%10.3%11.0%23.4%5.1%0.5%
Fréttablaðið 11 Mar 201510.4%16.1%21.9%9.2%10.1%28.0%4.3%6.1%
Rúv 2 Mar 201511.2%17.1%15.2%13.3%11.0%26.1%6.1%9.0%
MMR 19 Feb 201512.9%14.5%12.8%15.0%13.1%25.5%6.2%10.5%
Gallup 3 Feb 201511.0%18.0%12.0%13.0%13.0%27.0%6.0%9.0%
MMR 14 Jan 201511.9%15.9%12.8%16.9%9.4%27.3%5.8%'10.4%
Mbl 16 Dec 201411.6%16.1%11.4%16.2%11.0%29.0%4.7%12.8%
Fréttablaðið 17 Nov 201413.1%19.2%9.2%12.5%12.8%32.9%13.7%
MMR 4 Nov 201410.7%16.1%11.3%18.6%12.3%23.6%7.4%5.0%
Gallup 3 Oct 201413.0%19.0%7.0%16.0%12.0%27.0%8.0%
MMR 8 Sep 201410.4%16.9%9.2%17.8%11.3%28.2%6.2%10.4%
MMR 28 Aug 20149.6%20.3%10.3%17.6%9.6%26.6%6.0%6.3%
MMR 31 Jul 201411.6%17.0%9.6%19.2%11.8%24.1%6.7%7.1%
MMR 24 Jun 201411.4%16.5%8.3%21.8%11.4%25.0%5.6%3.2%
MMR 13 May 201411.6%16.4%9.6%19.4%12.3%22.1%8.6%2.7%
MMR 2 May 201411.7%17.4%9.0%15.5%14.1%25.1%7.2%7.7%
MMR 14 Apr 201411.5%15.1%11.0%17.1%14.4%23.9%7.0%6.8%
MMR 3 Mar 201410.4%14.0%9.3%16.4%14.6%29.0%5.6%12.6%
RÚV 27 Feb 201413.0%16.8%9.8%15.8%15.3%23.7%5.6%6.9%
Capacent 1 Feb 201412.7%14.9%8.1%14.2%18.3%26.9%8.6%
MMR 22 Jan 201411.0%17.1%6.9%15.9%17.0%26.3%5.6%9.2%
Capacent 24 Dec 201313.3%15.1%10.7%13.1%16.4%25.3%8.9%
MMR 30 Nov 201312.6%13.8%9.0%15.2%15.0%26.8%11.6%
2013 result28 Apr 201310.9%12.9%5.1%8.3%24.4%26.7%2.3%
InstituteRelease date V S P A B D C OthersLead

Results

Althing October 2016.svg

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
D Independence Party 54,99029.0021+2
V Left-Green Movement 30,16615.9110+3
P Pirate Party 27,44914.4810+7
B Progressive Party 21,79111.498–11
C Reform 19,87010.487New
A Bright Future 13,5787.164–2
S Social Democratic Alliance 10,8935.743–6
F People's Party 6,7073.540New
T Dawn 3,2751.7300
R People's Front of Iceland 5750.3000
E Icelandic National Front 3030.160New
H Humanist Party 330.0200
Invalid/blank votes5,574–––
Total195,204100630
Registered voters/turnout246,51179.19––
Source: Iceland Monitor
Popular vote
D
 
29.00%
V
 
15.91%
P
 
14.48%
B
 
11.49%
C
 
10.48%
A
 
7.16%
S
 
5.74%
F
 
3.54%
T
 
1.73%
Others
 
0.48%
Parliamentary seats
D
 
33.33%
V
 
15.87%
P
 
15.87%
B
 
12.70%
C
 
11.11%
A
 
6.35%
S
 
4.76%

This was the lowest turnout in Iceland's history. [17]

Government formation

Neither of the two main blocs — the outgoing coalition of the Independence Party and the Progressives, or the centre-left opposition (Left-Greens, Pirates, Bright Future and Social Democrats) — secured an overall majority, leaving the new centrist party Reform as possible kingmakers. [18]

The leader of the Independence Party, Bjarni Benediktsson, expressed preference for a three-party coalition, although without saying which three parties. The Pirate Party proposed a five-party coalition with the Left-Green Movement, the Social Democrats, Bright Future and Reform, having previously ruled out working with either of the two outgoing coalition members. [5] The Pirate Party then suggested a minority coalition of Left-Green Movement, Bright Future and Reform, with outside support from themselves and the Social Democrats, in order to simplify the process of government formation. [19]

The leader of Reform ruled out a right-leaning three-party coalition with the Independence Party and the Progressives, [20] and did not rule out supporting the centre-left bloc. [21]

On 2 November, President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson gave the mandate to Bjarni to form a majority government. [22] On 11 November, the Independence Party, Reform and Bright Future entered into formal coalition talks, [23] but the three parties failed to agree with a new market-based fishing quota system and an EU referendum as the main stumbling blocks.

On 17 November, the mandate to form a majority government was in turn given to the leader of the Left-Greens, Katrín Jakobsdóttir. [24] She instigated talks with Reform, Bright Future, the Pirates, and Social Democrats, and on 19 November the five parties agreed to start formal coalition talks. On 24 November, the coalition talks fell through and Katrín formally renounced the Presidential mandate to form a government. [25]

On 2 December, the mandate to form a majority government was given to the leader of the Pirate Party, Birgitta Jónsdóttir. [26] The Pirates were unable to form a government and the President chose not to give a new mandate to form a government, but asked the party leaders to discuss the matter informally. [27]

On 2 January 2017, the Independence Party started official talks about a possible coalition deal with the Reform Party and Bright Future. Morgunblaðið also reported that the Left-Green Movement and the Progressive Party had also discussed possible coalition deals with the Independence Party. [28] A new coalition was formed on 10 January 2017 between Independence Party, Reform Party and the Bright Future with Bjarni Benediktsson becoming Prime Minister on 11 January 2017. [29] [30]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Pirate Party's formal chair for the 2016-17 period is Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, [1] but Birgitta is chair of the Parliamentary party and often described as the party's informal leader. [2]

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Geir Hallgrímsson was the 16th Prime Minister of Iceland for the Independence Party from 28 August 1974 to 1 September 1978. Before that he had been mayor of Reykjavík and a member of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing.

Ministry of Finance (Iceland) Icelandic ministry

The Icelandic Ministry of Finance is responsible for overseeing the finances of the Icelandic government. The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs is Bjarni Benediktsson.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir 28th Prime Minister of Iceland

Katrín Jakobsdóttir is an Icelandic politician serving as the 28th and current Prime Minister of Iceland since 2017. She is the member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency since 2007. She became deputy chairperson of the Left-Green Movement in 2003 and has been their chairperson since 2013. Katrín was Iceland's Minister of Education, Science and Culture and of Nordic Co-operation from 2 February 2009 to 23 May 2013. She is Iceland's second female prime minister after Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.

2013 Icelandic parliamentary election 2013 parliamentary election in Iceland

An Icelandicparliamentary election was held on 27 April 2013. Fifteen parties contested the election in Iceland, compared to just seven in the previous election. The election was won by the two centre-right opposition parties, the Independence Party and Progressive Party, who subsequently formed a coalition government. The parties are eurosceptic, and their win brought to a halt partially completed negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership.

Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson Icelandic politician

Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson is an Icelandic politician, who was the Prime Minister of Iceland from April 2016 to January 2017. He is the chairman of the Progressive Party.

Icelandic European Union membership referendum

A referendum on the resumption of European Union membership negotiations has been proposed to be held in Iceland. The referendum was suggested after the Independence Party and the Progressive Party formed a coalition government following the April 2013 parliamentary elections. The previous Social Democratic Alliance led government had suspended opening of new chapters within the accession negotiations prior to the election, and the incoming government vowed not to resume them unless they were first given a mandate to do so by a referendum.

2014 Icelandic municipal elections

Municipal elections took place in Iceland on 31 May 2014. 66% of eligible voters cast votes, the lowest proportion since Iceland gained independence.

Sigrún Magnúsdóttir is an Icelandic politician. She represented the Reykjavík North Constituency in the Althingi from 2013 until 2016.

Björt Ólafsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who represented Bright Future in the Althing 2013-17 and is its current chairperson. She served as the Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources of Iceland from January to November 2017.

2017 Icelandic parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 28 October 2017. On 15 September 2017, the three-party coalition government collapsed after the departure of Bright Future over a scandal involving Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson's father writing a letter recommending a convicted paedophile have his "honour restored". Bjarni subsequently called for a snap election, which was officially scheduled for 28 October 2017 following the dissolution of the Althing.

Cabinet of Bjarni Benediktsson (2017)

The Cabinet of Bjarni Benediktsson was formed on 11 January 2017, following the 2016 parliamentary election. The cabinet was led by Bjarni Benediktsson of the Independence Party, who served as Prime Minister of Iceland.

Events in the year 2017 in Iceland.

Next Icelandic parliamentary election

The next Icelandic parliamentary election to elect members of the Althing will be held no later than 23 October 2021.

Centre Party (Iceland)

The Centre Party is a self-proclaimed centrist populist political party in Iceland, established in September 2017. It split from the Progressive Party due to leadership disputes, when two factions decided to band up as a new party before the 2017 election. It has been described as "populist", and proposes to reform the state's banking sector, maintain government ownership of Landsbankinn while reclaiming the state's stake in Arion Bank currently controlled by hedge funds, redistributing a third of its shares among Icelanders, but also to sell the government's existing stake in Íslandsbanki. The party supports scrapping indexation on debts and opposes the accession of Iceland to the European Union. At the inaugural meeting of the party in Reykjavik on 8 October, Sigmundur Davíð claimed that the party supported the best ideas of the left and right, emphasizing both the protection of individual rights and social security, while also focusing on regional issues in the same vein of the Northern Powerhouse in the UK and improving benefits for the elderly. The party also proposes to improve ferry services and construct a new university hospital.

References

  1. ↑ Alþingi: Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, official profile (Icelandic), accessed 15 January 2017
  2. ↑ Iceland’s ‘Pirate Party’ Is Now The Biggest Political Party MintPress News, 19 May 2016
  3. ↑ Kosningar í haust - Lilja verður ráðherra RÚV, 6 April 2016
  4. 1 2 "Boða til kosninga 29. október". MBL (in Icelandic). 11 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  5. 1 2 Iceland elections leave ruling centre-right party in driving seat The Guardian, 30 October 2016
  6. ↑ Arnarsdóttir, Eygló Svala (9 January 2017). "New Government Announced Tomorrow". Iceland Review. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  7. 1 2 Iceland’s PM faces calls for snap election after offshore revelations The Guardian, 3 April 2016
  8. ↑ "PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Wavers On Resignation". The Reykjavik Grapevine.
  9. ↑ "Iceland PM calls to dissolve parliament after tax scandal". Reuters UK. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  10. 1 2 Panama Papers: Iceland PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson steps down BBC News, 6 April 2016
  11. 1 2 Henley, Jon (5 April 2016). "Iceland PM steps aside after protests over Panama Papers revelations". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Iceland swears in new PM amid Panama Papers fallout CNN, 7 April 2016
  13. ↑ Panama papers: Iceland names PM replacement BBC News, 7 April 2016
  14. 1 2 Electoral system IPU
  15. ↑ "Sigurður Ingi kjörinn formaður Framsóknar". RÚV. 2016-10-02. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  16. 1 2 "Píratar útiloka stjórnarflokkana" . Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  17. ↑ 22:36. "Kjörsókn aldrei verið minni". Vísir. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  18. ↑ Duxbury, Charles (2016-10-30). "Iceland Lawmakers Face Tricky Negotiations After Inconclusive Election". WSJ. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  19. ↑ "Pirates Suggest Minority Government". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  20. ↑ grapevine.is (2016-10-31). "Elections 2016: What Will Iceland's Next Government Be?". The Reykjavik Grapevine. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  21. ↑ 22:36. "Viðreisn útilokar ekki minnihlutastjórn með Bjartri framtíð og VG". Vísir. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  22. ↑ The Associated Press (2016-11-02). "Independence Party given mandate to form Iceland government". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  23. ↑ Fontaine, Paul (11 November 2016). "Formal Talks Begin For 3-Party Centre-Right Coalition". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  24. ↑ "Party leader Jakobsdottir given chance to form Iceland coalition". Europe Online. 16 November 2016.
  25. ↑ "Second leader gives up on forming Iceland government" . Retrieved 2016-11-27.
  26. ↑ Agence France-Presse (2016-12-02). "Iceland's Pirate party invited to form government". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  27. ↑ "President gives no new mandate to form government" . Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  28. ↑ "Independence party-led government in the pipeline" . Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  29. ↑ Arnarsdóttir, Eygló Svala (9 January 2017). "New Government Announced Tomorrow". Iceland Review. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  30. ↑ Hafstađ, Vala (10 January 2017). "Government's Agenda Introduced". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
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