Publisher’s Note: The Second PM On Our Cover

The Grapevine has been published for 22 years, yet only once before have we had the sitting prime minister on our cover. Our covers have tended to be graced by figures from the cultural scene, though, every now and then, we’ve featured elected officials. Former prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir in 2018, Reykjavik’s mayor Jón Gnarr in 2011 and 2014, and former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in 2014.

This time we’re putting Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir on the cover. Not because this magazine is shifting its focus away from culture and towards politics, but because our new prime minister is coming to power at a precarious time for western democracies where aging populist buffoons, clowns and former TV entertainers have been claiming the highest elected offices.

Kristrún represents a stark contrast to that. Young, well-educated and business-like, she brings in a fresh breeze of boring and competent. Politics should be boring and competent, not entertaining and terrifying. And with that, we welcome Kristrún Frostadóttir to the forefront.