The Social Democratic Party ( is, Alþýðuflokkurinn), officially the People's Party, was a social-democratic political party in Iceland. It was founded in 1916, as the political representation of the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s of Iceland.

History

In 1920 its first member of the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...

, the Icelandic parliament, Jón Baldvinsson was elected. The party would contest elections to the Althing with little success until 1934, when the party obtained 10 parliamentary seats. Iceland shifted towards a

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system later that year which political scientist Amel Ahmed attributes to the rising electoral threat that the Social Democratic Party posed to the Independence Party and

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

. Between 1926 and 1940, the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International.Kowalski, Werner (1985)
''Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923–1919''
Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften (in German). The party led the government of Iceland three times, first in 1947–1949 under Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson, then in 1958–1959 under

Emil Jónsson Guðmundur Emil Jónsson (27 October 1902 – 30 November 1986) was prime minister of Iceland from 23 December 1958 to 20 November 1959. He first became minister of Fisheries and Social affairs. He was a chairman of the Social Democratic ...

and finally under Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal in 1979–1980. Its longest participation in government was with the Independence Party from 1959–1971. The Social Democratic Party was succeeded in 2000 by the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance ( is, Samfylkingin - jafnaðarflokkur Íslands), officially The Alliance – Iceland's Social Democratic Party, is a social democratic, and pro-European political party in Iceland. The Social Democratic Alliance w ...

, a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

party with a wider political base created by the merger of the Social Democratic Party with the National Awakening, the People's Alliance and the

Women's List The Women's List or Women's Alliance ( is, Samtök um kvennalista), also called Kvennalistinn and abbreviated KL, was a feminist political party in Iceland that took part in national politics from 1983 to 1999. The party held three seats in the ...

Party chairmen

* Ottó N. Þorláksson (1916) * Jón Baldvinsson (1916–1938) * Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (1938–1952) * Hannibal Valdimarsson (1952–1954) * Haraldur Guðmundsson (1954–1958) *

(1958–1968) *

Gylfi Þorsteinsson Gíslason Gylfi Þorsteinsson Gíslason (7 February 1917 – 18 August 2004) was an Icelandic politician. Gylfi was a member of the Social Democratic Party. He served as Minister of Education 1956–1971, as Minister of Industry 1956–1958 and as Minist ...

(1968–1974) * Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal (1974–1980) *

Kjartan Jóhannsson Kjartan Jóhannsson (19 December 1939 – 13 November 2020) was an Icelandic diplomat, politician, cabinet minister, and professor. Kjartan was ambassador of Iceland to, among others, the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, as well as the UN ...

(1980–1984) * Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson (1984–1996) *

Sighvatur Kristinn Björgvinsson Sighvatur Kristinn Björgvinsson (born 23 January 1942) is an Icelandic politician and former minister. He was the Minister of Finance of Iceland The Icelandic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ') is responsible for overseeing the finances of t ...

(1996–1998) * Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson (1998–2000)

History

Party chairmen

Election results

References

Further reading