Prime Minister of Iceland

Prime Minister of Iceland
Forsætisráðherra Íslands (Icelandic)
Coat of arms of Iceland
Incumbent Bjarni Benediktsson since 10 April 2024
Prime Minister's Office
Style	Mister Prime Minister (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Member of	State Council of Iceland Cabinet of Iceland
Seat	Reykjavík, Iceland
Appointer	President
Term length	No term limit
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Iceland Law on the Cabinet of Iceland
Precursor	Minister for Iceland
Inaugural holder	Jón Magnússon
Formation	1 February 1904 (1904-02-01)
Salary	2,021,825 kr/US$ 14,038 monthly
Website	eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is (in English) forsaetisraduneyti.is (in Icelandic)

The prime minister of Iceland (Icelandic: Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support.

Constitutional basis

The prime minister is appointed by the president under the Constitution of Iceland, Section II Article 17, and chairs the Cabinet of Iceland:

Fundunum stjórnar sá ráðherra, er forseti lýðveldisins hefur kvatt til forsætis, og nefnist hann forsætisráðherra.

The [cabinet] meetings shall be presided over by the Minister called upon by the President of the Republic to do so, who is designated Prime Minister.

Locations

The prime minister's office is located in Stjórnarráðið, Reykjavik, where their secretariat is based and where cabinet meetings are held. The prime minister has a summer residence, Þingvallabær in Þingvellir. The prime minister also has a reception house at Tjarnargata, Reykjavik, which was the prime ministerial residence until 1943.

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  Stjórnarráðið in Reykjavík, the Prime Minister's Office
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  Þingvallabær, the Prime Minister's summer residence

List of previous prime ministers

Home Rule (1904–1918)

See also: Minister for Iceland

Political party:   Home Rule   Independence   Union   Independent

No.		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Took office	Left office	Party
	1		Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (1861–1922) MP for Eyjafjarðarsýsla	1 February 1904	31 March 1909	Home Rule Party
	2		Björn Jónsson (1846–1912) MP for Barðastrandarsýsla	31 March 1909	14 March 1911	Independence Party
	3		Kristján Jónsson (1852–1926) MP for Borgarfjarðarsýsla	14 March 1911	24 July 1912	Independent
	(1)		Hannes Hafstein (1861–1922) MP for Eyjafjarðarsýsla	24 July 1912	21 July 1914	Union Party
	4		Sigurður Eggerz (1875–1945) MP for West Skaftafellssýsla	21 July 1914	4 May 1915	Independence Party
	5		Einar Arnórsson (1880–1955) MP for Árnessýsla	4 May 1915	4 January 1917	Independence Party (Langsum)

Kingdom (1918–1944)

Further information: Kingdom of Iceland

Political party:   Home Rule   Independence   Conservative   Progressive   Independent

	No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office				Political Party	Cabinet	Election
				#	Took Office	Left Office	Days
	6		Jón Magnússon (1859–1926) MP for Reykjavík until 1920 not in Parliament from 1920	1	4 January 1917	25 February 1920	1888	Home Rule Party	HP–IP–PP	Oct. 1916
				2	25 February 1920	7 March 1922			HP–others	1919
	(4)		Sigurður Eggerz (1875–1945) MP without constituency	•	7 March 1922	22 March 1924	746	Independence Party	IP–others
										1923
	(6)		Jón Magnússon (1859–1926) MP without constituency	3	22 March 1924	23 June 1926 (died)	823	Conservative Party	CP
	7		Magnús Guðmundsson Acting (1879–1937) MP for Skagafjarðarsýsla		23 June 1926	8 July 1926	15	Conservative Party
	8		Jón Þorláksson (1877–1935) MP without constituency	•	8 July 1926	28 August 1927	416	Conservative Party	CP
	9		Tryggvi Þórhallsson (1889–1935) MP for Strandasýsla	•	28 August 1927	3 June 1932	1741	Progressive Party	PP	1927
										1931
	10		Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1894–1972) MP for West Ísafjarðarsýsla	•	3 June 1932	28 July 1934	785	Progressive Party	PP–IP–Peasants
										1933
	11		Hermann Jónasson (1896–1976) MP for Strandasýsla	1	28 July 1934	2 April 1938	2849	Progressive Party	PP–SDP	1934
				2	2 April 1938	17 April 1939			PP	1937
				3	17 April 1939	18 November 1941			PP–IP–SDP
				4	18 November 1941	16 May 1942			PP–IP–SDP
	12		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	1	16 May 1942	16 December 1942	214	Independence Party	IP	Jul.1942
										Oct.1942
	13		Björn Þórðarson (1879–1963) not in Parliament	•	16 December 1942	21 October 1944	675	Independent	—

Republic (1944–present)

Further information: 1944 Icelandic constitutional referendum

Political party:   Independence   Progressive   Social Democratic Party   Social Democratic Alliance   Left-Green

	No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office				Political Party	Cabinet	Election	President of Republic of Iceland Term of office Political Party
				#	Took Office	Left Office	Days
	(12)		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	2	21 October 1944	4 February 1947	836	Independence Party	IP–SDP–SP	1946	Sveinn Björnsson 17 June 1944 – 25 January 1952 Independent
	14		Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (1894–1980) MP for Eyjafjarðarsýsla	•	4 February 1947	6 December 1949	1036	Social Democratic Party	SDP–IP–SP
	(12)		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	3	6 December 1949	14 March 1950	98	Independence Party	IP	1949
	15		Steingrímur Steinþórsson (1893–1966) MP for Skagafjarðarsýsla	•	14 March 1950	11 September 1953	1277	Progressive Party	PP–IP
	(12)		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	4	11 September 1953	24 July 1956	1035	Independence Party	IP–PP	1953	Ásgeir Ásgeirsson 1 August 1952 – 31 July 1968
	(11)		Hermann Jónasson (1896–1976) MP for Strandasýsla	5	24 July 1956	23 December 1958	894	Progressive Party	Alliance PP–SDP–PA	1956
	16		Guðmundur Emil Jónsson (1902–1986) MP for Hafnarfjörður	•	23 December 1958	20 November 1959	332	Social Democratic Party	SDP	Jun.1959
	(12)		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	5	20 November 1959	8 September 1961	658	Independence Party	IP–SDP	Oct.1959
	17		Bjarni Benediktsson Acting (1908–1970) MP for Reykjavík		8 September 1961	31 December 1961	114	Independence Party	IP–SDP
	(12)		Ólafur Tryggvason Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla		1 January 1962	14 November 1963	682	Independence Party	IP–SDP
	(17)		Bjarni Benediktsson (1908–1970) MP for Reykjavík	•	14 November 1963	10 July 1970 (died)	2430	Independence Party	IP–SDP	1963
										1967	Kristján Eldjárn 1 August 1968 – 31 July 1980
	18		Jóhann Hafstein (1915–1980) MP for Reykjavík	•	(Acting: 10 July 1970) 10 October 1970	14 July 1971	369	Independence Party	IP–SDP
	19		Ólafur Jóhannesson (1913–1984) MP for Northwestern	1	14 July 1971	28 August 1974	1141	Progressive Party	PP–PA–LL	1971
	20		Geir Hallgrímsson (1925–1990) MP for Reykjavík	•	28 August 1974	1 September 1978	1465	Independence Party	IP–PP	1974
	(19)		Ólafur Jóhannesson (1913–1984) MP for Northwestern	2	1 September 1978	15 October 1979	409	Progressive Party	PP–PA	1978
	21		Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal (1924–2010) MP for Reykjavík	•	15 October 1979	8 February 1980	116	Social Democratic Party	SDP	1979
	22		Gunnar Thoroddsen (1910–1983) MP for Reykjavík	•	8 February 1980	26 May 1983	1203	Independence Party (*Gunnar's faction)	IP*–PP–PA		Vigdís Finnbogadóttir 1 August 1980 – 31 July 1996
	23		Steingrímur Hermannsson (1928–2010) MP for Westfjords	1	26 May 1983	8 July 1987	1504	Progressive Party	PP–IP	1983
	24		Þorsteinn Pálsson (born 1947) MP for Southern	•	8 July 1987	28 September 1988	448	Independence Party	IP–PP–SDP	1987
	(23)		Steingrímur Hermannsson (1928–2010) MP for Reykjanes	2	28 September 1988	10 September 1989	944	Progressive Party	PP–SDP–PA
				3	10 September 1989	30 April 1991			PP–SDP–PA–CiP
	25		Davíð Oddsson (born 1948) MP for Reykjavík until 2003 MP for Reykjavík North from 2003	1	30 April 1991	23 April 1995	4887	Independence Party	IP–SDP	1991
				2	23 April 1995	28 May 1999			IP–PP	1995	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson 1 August 1996 – 31 July 2016
				3	28 May 1999	23 May 2003			IP–PP	1999
				4	23 May 2003	15 September 2004			IP–PP	2003
	26		Halldór Ásgrímsson (1947–2015) MP for Reykjavík North	•	15 September 2004	15 June 2006	638	Progressive Party	PP–IP
	27		Geir Hilmar Haarde (born 1951) MP for Reykjavík South	1	15 June 2006	24 May 2007	962	Independence Party	IP–PP
				2	24 May 2007	1 February 2009			IP–SDA	2007
	28		Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (born 1942) MP for Reykjavík North	1	1 February 2009	10 May 2009	1572	Social Democratic Alliance	SDA–LGM
				2	10 May 2009	23 May 2013			SDA–LGM	2009
	29		Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (born 1975) MP for Northeast	•	23 May 2013	7 April 2016	1049	Progressive Party	PP–IP	2013
	30		Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (born 1962) MP for South	•	7 April 2016	11 January 2017	280	Progressive Party	PP–IP		Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson 1 August 2016 – 31 July 2024
	31		Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970) MP for Southwest	1	11 January 2017	30 November 2017	323	Independence Party	IP–RP–BF	2016
	32		Katrín Jakobsdóttir (born 1976) MP for Reykjavík North	1	30 November 2017	28 November 2021	2442	Left-Green Movement	LGM–IP–PP	2017
				2	28 November 2021	10 April 2024			LGM–IP–PP	2021
	(31)		Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970) MP for Southwest	2	10 April 2024	Incumbent	120	Independence Party	IP–LGM–PP

Timeline

See also

• List of rulers of Iceland
• Cabinet of Iceland

External links

• Iceland's Prime Ministers Office