Icelandic voters cast their ballots on November 30 in a snap election ushered in by Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson’s decision to break parliament last October.
The Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) ended up winning the majority of votes cast, totalling 20.8% and 15 MPs. The Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) won a defensive victory, exceeding the expectations of recent polls. The party is the second-largest, with 19.4% of total votes, resulting in 14 MPs.
32 MPs are needed for a majority in the Alþingi.
Election night results saw the remaining left-leaning parties — Socialists, Pirates, and Left-Greens — obliterated, with none of the three parties reaching the 5% electoral threshold needed to gain an MP. The Pirate Party and Left Greens lost all their parliamentary seats, 14 combined.
All opposition parties gained votes compared to the last elections, except Pirates and Socialists.
President of Iceland Halla Tómasdóttir will meet with every party leader today, December 2, to discuss government mandates. Samfylkingin leader Kristrún Frostadóttir was Halla’s first guest.
Here are the parliamentary parties’ results:
- Social Democratic Alliance, 20.8%, 15 seats
- Independence Party, 19.4%, 14 seats
- Liberal Reform Party (Viðreisn), 15.8%, 11 seats
- People’s Party (Flokkur Fólksins), 13.8%, 10 seats
- Centre Party (Miðflokkurinn), 12.1%, eight seats
- Progressive Party (Framsókn), 7.8%, five seats
- Socialists, 4%, zero seats
- Pirate Party, 3%, zero seats
- Left Greens, 2.3%, zero seats
- The Democratic Party, 1%, zero seats
- Responsible Future, 0%, zero seats
The number of eligible voters in Iceland are 268.422. Voter participation was 80.2%.
Follow along with the Grapevine’s 2024 election coverage.
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