The Social Democratic Alliance, the party of current Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, announced the election of a new Chairman at their general meeting on 2 February, RÚV reports.
Árni Páll Árnason replaced the Prime Minister as the party’s Chairman after receiving 61.8% of votes to beat out his opponent, Minister of Welfare Guðbjartur Hannesson, who received 37.6% support from voters. 5,621 of 18,318 total registered party voters cast a ballot.
A lawyer by training, Árni Páll has served as a Member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Alliance since 2007, acting as Minister of Social Affairs in 2009-10 before becoming Minister of Business Affairs in September 2010, a post he held through the end of 2011.