The Union Party (, ), also translated Unionist Party, is a conservative-liberal, agrarian political party on the Faroe Islands. The party wants to maintain the Faroe Islands' union with Denmark. On 24 October 2015, Bárður á Steig Nielsen succeeded Kaj Leo Johannesen as party leader.
In the elections in 2008, the party won 21.0% of the popular vote and 7 out of 33 seats. After having been in the opposition for a short interval after the elections, the Union Party formed a new government in September 2008, and Kaj Leo Johannesen became prime minister.
In the Danish parliamentary elections of 2007, the party received 23.5% of the Faroese vote, thereby gaining one of the two Faroese seats in the national legislature of Denmark.
At the general elections in 2011, the party gained 24.7% of the votes and eight seats out of 33. However, on 10 February 2014, the party gained one more seat in the Løgting, after Gerhard Lognberg who was elected to the parliament representing the Social Democratic Party, joined the Union Party. This happened three months after Lognberg had been expelled from the Social Democratic Party due to some disagreements,Kvf.fo, Gerhard Lognberg er koyrdur úr Javnaðarflokkinum making the Union Party the joint biggest party of the Faroese parliament, along with the People's Party.
Election results Year Votes Seats Position Government#%# ± 1906 961 62.4 New 1st 1908 663 66.1 1 1st 1910 861 72.2 0 1st 1912 459 52.3 0 1st 1914 699 52.7 1 1st 1916 397 37.8 2 1st 1918 2,969 50.2 1 2nd 1920 3,478 58.4 1 1st 1924 3,676 58.6 3 1st 1928 2,917 46.0 3 2nd 1932 3,936 50.1 1 1st 1936 2,654 33.6 3 2nd 1940 2,722 32.2 0 1st 1943 2,736 28.3 0 2nd 1945 3,214 24.4 2 2nd 1946 3,783 28.6 0 2nd 1950 3,170 27.3 1 2nd 1954 3,312 26.0 0 1st 1958 3,288 23.7 0 3rd 1962 3,082 20.3 1 3rd 1966 4,177 23.7 0 2nd 1970 3,921 21.7 0 3rd 1974 3,799 19.5 1 4th 1978 5,966 26.3 3 1st 1980 5,558 23.9 0 1st 1984 5,330 21.2 0 3rd 1988 6,116 21.2 0 3rd 1990 5,367 18.9 1 3rd 1994 5,986 23.4 2 1st 1998 4,995 18.0 2 4th 2002 7,954 26.0 2 1st 2004 7,501 23.7 1 1st 2008 7,501 23.7 0 2nd 2011 7,546 24.7 1 1st 2015 6,036 18.7 2 4th 2019 6,874 20.4 1 3rd 2022 6,834 20.0 0 2nd 2026 7,600 21.51 0 2nd
Leaders Leaders of the Union Party: Bárður á Steig Nielsen 2015—present Kaj Leo Johannesen 2004–2015 Lisbeth L. Petersen 2001–2004 Edmund Joensen 1990–2001 Pauli Ellefsen 1974–1990 Trygvi Samuelsen 1970–1974 Johan Poulsen 1948–1970 Andrass Samuelsen 1924–1948 Oliver Effersøe 1917–1924 Fríðrikur Petersen 1906–1917
Current members of the Løgting
As of the 2022 general snap election:
Name Elected (E), Re-elected (R), or Appointed (A) Votes obtained in the general election Title Bárður á Steig Nielsen R 1,355 Member of the Logting Magnus Rasmussen R 713 Member of the Logting Erhard Joensen E 528 Member of the Logting Johan Dahl R 502 Second Vice-Chairman ("Deputy Speaker") of the Logting Eyðdis Hartmann Niclasen E 347 Member of the Logting Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen R 305 Member of the Logting Helgi Abrahamsen R 284 Member of the Logting
References
External links Sambandsflokkurin official site