Icelandic parliamentary election, 2003

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 10 May 2003.^[1] The Independence Party remained the largest party in the Althing, winning 22 of the 63 seats.^[2]

Background

For the previous twelve years Davíð Oddsson of the Independence Party had been Prime Minister of Iceland and since the 1995 election had been ruling in coalition with the Progressive Party.^[3] At the last election in 1999 the two ruling parties won 38 of the 63 seats to maintain a majority in the Icelandic parliament.^[4]

Campaign

The Social Democratic Alliance was the main left wing opposition party and their leader, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, a former mayor of Reykjavík, was hoping to become the first female Prime Minister of Iceland.^[4] They were hoping to capitalise on a feeling that it was time for a change in government.^[5] The Social Democrats stressed welfare, health and housing which they said the Independence Party had failed to address.^[6]

The Independence Party campaigned on their record of economic growth over the past decade.^[7] This had seen Icelandic businesses expand abroad and Iceland become the 6th richest county per capita in purchasing power parity.^[8]

Opinion polls as the election neared showed the Independence Party with about 34-35% support and with a small lead over the Social Democratic Alliance which was getting 27-33% support.^[3]

Results

The results saw the Independence Party maintain a small lead over the opposition Social Democratic Alliance.^[9] However this was their worst election result since the 1987 election as their vote dropped from 40.7% in the last election to only 33.7%.^[10] The Social Democrats gained three seats however their leader, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, was not elected.^[11] This was because she had only placed herself 5th on the list of candidates for her district.^[11]

References