Social Democratic Alliance
| Social Democratic Alliance Samfylkingin |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Chairperson | Árni Páll Árnason |
| Vice-chairperson | Katrín Júlíusdóttir |
| Chairperson of the board | Margrét S. Björnsdóttir |
| Chairperson of the parliamentary group | Magnús Orri Schram |
| Chairperson of the municipal council | Björk Vilhelmsdóttir |
| Founded | 5 May 2000 |
| Merger of | |
| Headquarters | Hallveigarstígur 1, 101 Reykjavík |
| Youth wing | Social Democratic Youth |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists (Associate) |
| Nordic affiliation | SAMAK |
| Colours | Red, Orange |
| Seats in the parliament |
9 / 63
|
| Website | |
| www.samfylkingin.is | |
The Social Democratic Alliance (Icelandic: Samfylkingin) is a social-democratic[1][2] political party in Iceland. It is centre-left in alignment and currently forms part of a coalition government along with the Left-Green Movement. It became the largest party in the Icelandic parliament after the 2009 Icelandic election. The current Prime Minister of Iceland, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, is the leader of the Social Democratic Alliance.
The Social Democratic Alliance was born in the run-up to the parliamentary elections of 1999 as an alliance of the four left-wing parties that had existed in Iceland up till then: the Social Democratic Party (Alþýðuflokkurinn), the People's Alliance (Alþýðubandalagið), the Women's List (Samtök um kvennalista) and the National Awakening (Þjóðvaki).[3] The parties then formally merged in May 2000 under the name "The Alliance" (Samfylkingin). The merger was a deliberate attempt to unify the entire Icelandic centre-left into one political party capable of countering the centre-right Independence Party. The initial attempt failed however as a group of Alþingi representatives rejected the new party's platform – which was inspired by that of Tony Blair's New Labour – and broke away before the merger to found the Left-Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), based on more traditional democratic socialist values as well as green politics and euroscepticism. The Icelandic Movement – Living Country merged into the party in March 2009.[4] In February 2013 the official name of the party was changed to "The Alliance – Social Democratic Party of Iceland" (Samfylkingin – Jafnaðarmannaflokkur Íslands).[5]
The current chair of the party is Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland. She won the election for chairperson at the party conference on 28 March 2009 with 98% of the vote. Dagur B. Eggertsson, a member of the City Council and former mayor of Reykjavik, has been vice chair since same date; he received 65.6% of the vote. The youth wing of the Social Democratic Alliance is Social Democratic Youth (Ungir Jafnaðarmenn).
Contents |
Electoral results
Parliament
| Election | # of overall votes |
% of overall vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  44,378 |
26.8 |
17 / 63
|
0 |
2nd |
| 2003 |  56,700 |
31.0 |
20 / 63
|
3 |
2nd |
| 2007 |  48,743 |
26.8 |
18 / 63
|
2 |
2nd |
| 2009 | 55,758 |
29.8 |
20 / 63
|
2 |
1st |
| 2013 | 24,292 |
12.9 |
9 / 63
|
11 |
3rd |
Municipal
Reykjavik
| Election | # of overall votes |
% of overall vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 11,344 |
19.1 |
3 / 15
|
1 |
3rd |
Members of the parliament
| Parliamentarian | Since | Title | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir |  |
1978 | Prime Minister. | Reykjavík North Constituency |
| Össur Skarphéðinsson |  |
1991 | Foreign Minister | Reykjavík South Constituency |
| Oddný G. Harðardóttir | 2009 | Financial minister | South Constituency | |
| Guðbjartur Hannesson | 2009 | Minister of Welfare | North West Constituency | |
| Katrín Júlíusdóttir | 2003 | Minister of Industry | Southwest Constituency | |
| Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir | 1995 | Speaker of the Parliament | Reykjavík South Constituency | |
| Magnús Orri Schram | 2009 | Leader of the Parliamentary group | Southwest Constituency | |
| Helgi Hjörvar | 2003 | Member of Parliament | Reykjavík North Constituency | |
| Valgerður Bjarnadóttir | 2009 | Member of Parliament | Reykjavík North Constituency | |
| Mörður Árnason | 2003 | Member of Parliament | Reykjavík South Constituency | |
| Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir | 2009 | Member of Parliament | Reykjavík South Constituency | |
| Skúli Helgason | 2009 | Member of Parliament | Reykjavík South Constituency | |
| Árni Páll Árnason | 2007 | Member of Parliament | Southwest Constituency | |
| Lúðvík Geirsson | 2011 | Member of Parliament | Southwest Constituency | |
| Ólína Þorvarðardóttir | 2009 | Member of Parliament | North West Constituency | |
| Kristján L. Möller | 1999 | Member of Parliament | North East Constituency | |
| Sigmundur Ernir Rúnarsson | 2009 | Member of Parliament | North East Constituency | |
| Jónína Rós Guðmundsdóttir | 2009 | Member of Parliament | North East Constituency | |
| Björgvin G. Sigurðsson | 2003 | Member of Parliament | South Constituency | |
| Róbert Marshall | 2009 | Member of Parliament | South Constituency | |
References
- ^ Hans Slomp (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 680–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- ^ Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
- ^ Julia Kaute (2 December 2010). Warming up for the EU: Iceland and European Integration: An Analysis of the Factors Contributing to the Changing Perception of Iceland’s Political Elites Toward Membership in the European Union. GRIN Verlag. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-3-640-76745-8 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- ^ http://www.icenews.is/2009/03/29/major-political-party-conferences-underway-in-iceland/
- ^ http://www.ruv.is/frett/nafni-samfylkingarinnar-breytt