Guðmundur Ari becomes Social Democratic Alliance deputy leader
Monday 12th October 2026 on 14:15 in
Iceland
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson was elected unopposed as deputy leader of Iceland’s Social Democratic Alliance at a party leadership meeting on Saturday, mbl.is reported. He said his focus would be strengthening the party’s grassroots and policy work, and that he was not seeking a ministerial post.
“I decided on my birthday, September 12,” he said. He cited a decade in local government, two years as chair of the party’s executive board and two years as parliamentary group leader as experience for the role.
Guðmundur Ari said he wanted to support party groups across the country and help newly elected local representatives, building the alliance as a grassroots and mass movement. He said he was satisfied with the party’s current direction and was not proposing major changes.
“When the party leader is prime minister, it is good for the deputy leader to take responsibility for the grassroots and policy work, which are important to a political movement,” he said.
In his speech, Guðmundur Ari said that defending the public interest differed from defending special interests, which he said spent substantial sums protecting their position. Public-interest campaigning, he said, required a strong mass movement and solidarity, as well as active party groups across the country.
Guðmundur Ari, 38, was elected to parliament in 2024 for the Southwest constituency. He served on Seltjarnarnes town council from 2014 to 2024, chaired the Social Democratic Alliance’s executive board from 2022 to 2025 and was a board member of the Association of Local Authorities in Iceland from 2018 to 2024. He has been the party’s parliamentary group leader during the current term.
Party leader Kristrún Frostadóttir said the government had secured labour peace and that agreements were holding through a concerted effort, despite higher oil prices from abroad. If all parties kept their commitments, she said, this could mark a turning point in the fight against inflation. She also said the government remained committed to a balanced budget.