Prime Minister of Iceland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Prime Minister of Iceland
Coat of arms of Iceland
Incumbent Kristrún Frostadóttir since 21 December 2024
Prime Minister's Office
Style	Madam Prime Minister (informal) Her 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; 120 years ago (1904-02-01)
Salary	2,021,825 kr/US$ 14,038 monthly
Website

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 the Governing Council (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 in 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)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Took office	Left office	Party
1		Hannes 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)

Political party:       Home Rule       Independence       Conservative       Progressive       Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office				Political Party		Cabinet	Election	Monarch (Reign)
			#	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	Kristján X (1918–1944)
			2	25 February 1920	7 March 1922				HP–others	1919
(4)		Sigurður Eggerz (1875–1945) MP without constituency	1	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	1	8 July 1926	28 August 1927	416		Conservative Party
9		Tryggvi Þórhallsson (1889–1935) MP for Strandasýsla	1	28 August 1927	3 June 1932	1741		Progressive Party	PP	1927
										1931
10		Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1894–1972) MP for West Ísafjarðarsýsla	1	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	16 May 1942	2849		Progressive Party	PP–SDP	1934
			2						PP	1937
			3						PP–IP–SDP
			4
12		Ólafur 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	1	16 December 1942	21 October 1944	675		Independent

Republic (1944–present)

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 (term)
				#	Took Office	Left Office	Days
	(12)		Ólafur Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	2	21 October 1944	4 February 1947	836	Independence Party	IP–SDP–SP	1946	Sveinn Björnsson (1944–1952)
	14		Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (1894–1980) MP for Eyjafjarðarsýsla	1	4 February 1947	6 December 1949	1036	Social Democratic Party
	(12)		Ólafur 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	1	14 March 1950	11 September 1953	1277	Progressive Party	PP–IP
	(12)		Ólafur Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla	4	11 September 1953	24 July 1956	1035	Independence Party		1953	Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1952–1968)
	(11)		Hermann Jónasson (1896–1976) MP for Strandasýsla	5	24 July 1956	23 December 1958	894	Progressive Party	PP–SDP–PA	1956
	16		Emil Jónsson (1902–1986) MP for Hafnarfjörður	1	23 December 1958	20 November 1959	332	Social Democratic Party	SDP	Jun. 1959
	(12)		Ólafur 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
	(12)		Ólafur Thors (1892–1964) MP for Gullbringu and Kjósarsýsla		1 January 1962	14 November 1963	682	Independence Party
	(17)		Bjarni Benediktsson (1908–1970) MP for Reykjavík	1	14 November 1963	10 July 1970 (died)	2430	Independence Party		1963
										1967	Kristján Eldjárn (1968–1980)
	18		Jóhann Hafstein (1915–1980) MP for Reykjavík	1	Acting: 10 July 10 October 1970	14 July 1971	369	Independence Party
	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	1	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 Gröndal (1924–2010) MP for Reykjavík	1	15 October 1979	8 February 1980	116	Social Democratic Party	SDP	1979
	22		Gunnar Thoroddsen (1910–1983) MP for Reykjavík	1	8 February 1980	26 May 1983	1203	Independence Party (*Gunnar's faction)	IP*–PP–PA		Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1980–1996)
	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	1	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	30 April 1991	944	Progressive Party	PP–SDP–PA
				3					PP–SDP–PA–CiP
	25		Davíð Oddsson (born 1948) MP for Reykjavík until 2003 MP for Reykjavík North from 2003	1	30 April 1991	15 September 2004	4887	Independence Party	IP–SDP	1991
				2					IP–PP	1995	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1996–2016)
				3						1999
				4						2003
	26		Halldór Ásgrímsson (1947–2015) MP for Reykjavík North	1	15 September 2004	15 June 2006	638	Progressive Party
	27		Geir Haarde (born 1951) MP for Reykjavík South	1	15 June 2006	1 February 2009	962	Independence Party
				2					IP–SDA	2007
	28		Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (born 1942) MP for Reykjavík North	1	1 February 2009	23 May 2013	1572	Social Democratic Alliance	SDA–LGM
				2						2009
	29		Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (born 1975) MP for Northeast	1	23 May 2013	7 April 2016	1049	Progressive Party	PP–IP	2013
	30		Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (born 1962) MP for South	1	7 April 2016	11 January 2017	280	Progressive Party			Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (2016–2024)
	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	9 April 2024	2322	Left-Green Movement	LGM–IP–PP	2017
				2						2021
	(31)		Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970) MP for Southwest	2	9 April 2024	21 December 2024	256	Independence Party			Halla Tómasdóttir (2024–present)
	33		Kristrún Frostadóttir (born 1988) MP for Reykjavík South	1	21 December 2024	Incumbent	1	Social Democratic Alliance	SDA–RP–PP	2024

Timeline

See also

• List of rulers of Iceland
• Cabinet of Iceland