The Icelandic Alþingi Elections of 30 November 2024.
Programmes, Candidates, Election Results and Implications
for the Political System
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Akademia
Mazowiecka w Płocku
Publication date: 2026-03-19
Studia Politologiczne 2026;79
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ABSTRACT
The aim of this article is to analyse the political and social conditions that led
to the early elections to the Alþingi on 30 November 2024. Public dissatisfaction with the
three-party coalition government – the Independence Party, the Progressive Party and
the Left-Green Movement – caused internal dysfunction. The main disputes concerned
immigration issues, economic and public finance issues, and the scope of social policy.
In their election programmes, the main parties emphasised proposals to remedy the
situation in these areas. The parliamentary elections, the first under the new electoral
law, proved to be a success for the centre-right parties and reduced the fragmentation
of the Alþingi. Representatives of five of the eleven parties participating in the elections
won seats, with the Icelandic Social Democratic Alliance winning the most. The left-wing
parties suffered a defeat, losing their seats in the Alþingi and finding themselves outside it.
The new coalition government led by Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, based on the
so-called Valkyrie coalition, has the majority suport in Alþingi. The article’s main hypothesis
is that Iceland’s political system will evolve in a center-right direction after the elections,
and the current strong, extreme environmental, gender, and pro-immigration rhetoric
has reached an impasse. This could lead to the completion of the constitutional reforms
initiated in 2010–2011.
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