Icelanders vote in a legislative election on Saturday (November 30, 2024) after the collapse of a fraught coalition prompted a snap poll where the economy is a top concern.

Battling inflation and high interest rates, the economy, housing and healthcare have dominated the campaign for the 2,68,000 people eligible to vote. Most voting stations will be open between 9 a.m. (0900 GMT) and 10 p.m.

Fears have been raised that some voters may struggle to reach polling stations as heavy snowfall and strong winds have been predicted for some regions. “I feel we need a change,” 48-year-old film producer Grimar Jonsson, told AFP in Reykjavik.

Mr. Jonsson said he hoped to see a change of government and “getting rid of so-called old-fashioned political parties.” Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson’s three-party, left-right coalition resigned in October.

The coalition of Mr. Benediktsson’s Independence Party, the Left-Green Movement and the centre-right Progressive Party was divided on a range of issues but broke down over the handling of migrants and asylum seekers.

Despite causing the demise of the government, immigration is not a galvanising issue. One in five residents in the country is foreign-born.

“It is very prominent in the public debate amongst politicians, but still it does not seem to be an issue that people are putting at the front of their list of important issues,” Eirikur Bergmann, a politics professor at Bifrost University, told AFP.

Economic issues and housing are top concerns for many

According to a Gallup poll published in early November, only 32% listed immigration as a key issue and only 18% included asylum issues. In contrast, healthcare, economic issues and housing were a top concern for more than 60%.

Broadcaster RUV reported that an AI chatbot set up to answer questions about the election had mostly been asked about housing and tax issues. For first-time voter Lena Brynjardottir, housing is a top concern.

“But also I want to have focus on the financial aspects while also looking at human rights and immigration as well”, 18-year-old Brynjardottir told AFP. “I think balance is what is the most important for me right now in this election.” The coalition has lost support during its time in power.

According to a recent RUV poll, only 49% of those who voted for the Independence Party in 2021 planned to do so again.

“The Left-Green Movement looks to retain less than a fifth of its voters and risks falling below the Parliamentary cutoff of five per cent, meaning it could fail to get a seat,” according to the poll by analyst group Maskina.

Few Icelandic parties have left their time in power unscathed since the 2008 financial crisis — which hit Iceland’s over-indebted banks.

“In the last 15 years, voters in Iceland have been extremely critical of their governments and voted against the government in all elections except one,” Olafur Hardarson, professor of political science at the University of Iceland, told AFP.

The exception was Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement, who held on as Prime Minister in the last election. Mr. Benediktsson took over as Prime Minister in April 2024 after Ms. Jakobsdottir resigned to run for the Presidency, which she failed to win.

Seven volcanic eruptions this year

This year, Iceland has experienced more than political turmoil. The southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, which had not seen a volcanic eruption for eight centuries prior to March 2021, has had seven eruptions this year — including one last week that is still spewing lava.

The eruptions have led to multiple evacuations of the fishing village of Grindavik, and Iceland’s famed Blue Lagoon hot spa. Going into the election, the Social Democratic Alliance — led by Kristrun Frostadottir — is ahead in the polls with 20.4%, RUV reported this week, citing another Maskina poll.

In second place is the Liberal Reform Party, with 19.2% of voter support. Mr. Benediktsson’s Independence Party polled in third place with 14.5%. According to Mr. Hardarson, if the election results come in close to the polls, one likely coalition would be the Social Democratic Alliance and the Liberal Reform Party — with one or two others — as their policies are relatively close.

“This is difficult to predict because in Iceland, the coalition game is relatively open,” he noted.

Reykjavik:

Businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir was on Sunday declared the winner of Iceland’s presidential election, final results showed, beating former prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir whom critics said was too political for the post.

Jakobsdottir conceded defeat early on Sunday and congratulated Tomasdottir, the CEO of The B Team, a global non-profit co-founded by UK business tycoon Richard Branson to promote business practices focused on humanity and the climate.

Iceland’s president holds a largely ceremonial position in the parliamentary republic, acting as a guarantor of the constitution and national unity.

He or she does however have the power to veto legislation or submit it to a referendum.

Tomasdottir, 55, won 34.3 percent of votes, ahead of 48-year-old Jakobsdottir, who garnered 25.5 percent after stepping down as prime minister of a left-right government in April to run in Saturday’s election.

Tomasdottir, who came second in an earlier bid for the presidency in 2016, received much broader support than opinion polls had suggested in the run-up to this year’s vote, spurting in the final days of the campaign after running neck-and-neck with Jakobsdottir.

Jakobsdottir conceded defeat already in the early hours of Sunday, before the last votes were counted.

“It seems to me that Halla Tomasdottir is quickly heading towards becoming the next president of Iceland. 

“I congratulate her on that and know that she will be a good president,” Jakobsdottir told national broadcaster RUV at an election night rally.

Second woman president

Tomasdottir was to make a televised address to the nation later on Sunday. During her election rally in the early hours of Sunday, she told daily Morgunbladid was “just trying to breathe”.

“I feel incredibly good. I know it’s not over until it’s over. So I’m also just trying to stay calm and breathe,” she said.

Tomasdottir is also the founder of Audur Capital, an investment firm created in 2007 aimed at promoting feminine values in the financial sector.

No one central issue dominated the campaign, where candidates traditionally run as independents without party affiliations.

In the country of 380,000 people, any citizen gathering 1,500 signatures can run for office.

While Jakobsdottir was at times seen as the favourite, political observers had suggested that her background as prime minister could weigh against her.

Among the other main candidates in the field of 13 were a political science professor, a comedian, and an Arctic and energy scholar.

Tomasdottir is set to be the second woman to serve as Iceland’s president. 

In 1980, Vigdis Finnbogadottir became the world’s first woman democratically elected as head of state.

Tomasdottir will take over the position on August 1, succeeding the hugely popular Gudni Johannesson, who has held the job since 2016.

He announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

Jakobsdottir, party leader for the Left Green Movement from 2013 until her presidential bid, has been hailed for her handling of the resurgence in volcanic eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula since December.

The five eruptions, including one last week, have sparked a series of evacuations as well as the state’s acquisition of homes from residents evacuated from the threatened fishing town of Grindavik.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)