The Social Democratic Party (, ) was a social-democratic political party in Iceland.
It was founded in 1916, as the political representation of the trade unions of Iceland.
History In 1920, its first member of the Althing, 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 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.
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 and finally under Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal in 1979–1980.
Its longest participation in government was with the Independence Party from 1959 to 1971.
The Social Democratic Party was succeeded in 2000 by the Social Democratic Alliance, a centre-left 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.
Party chairmen Ottó N. Þorláksson (1916) Jón Baldvinsson (1916–1938) Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (1938–1952) Hannibal Valdimarsson (1952–1954) Haraldur Guðmundsson (1954–1958) Emil Jónsson (1958–1968) Gylfi Þorsteinsson Gíslason (1968–1974) Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal (1974–1980) Kjartan Jóhannsson (1980–1984) Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson (1984–1996) Sighvatur Kristinn Björgvinsson (1996–1998) Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson (1998–2000)
Election results Election Votes % Seats +/– Position GovernmentOctober 1916 903.5 6.8 1 6th 1919949 6.8 1 4th 19234,912.5 16.2 1 3rd 19276,097.5 19.0 4 3rd 19316,197.516.1 2 3rd 19336,864.5 19.2 1 3rd 193411,269.5 21.7 5 3rd 193711,084.5 19.0 2 3rd 1942 (Jul)8,979 15.4 2 4th 1942 (Oct)8,455 14.2 1 4th 194611,914 17.8 2 4th 194911,937 16.5 2 4th 195312,093 15.6 1 4th 195615,153 18.3 2 3rd 1959 (Jun)10,632 12.5 2 4th 1959 (Oct) 12,909 15.2 3 4th 196312,697 14.2 1 4th 196715,059 15.7 1 4th 197111,020 10.5 3 4th 197410,345 9.1 1 4th 197826,912 22.0 9 3rd 197921,580 17.4 44th 198315,214 11.7 4 4th 198723,265 15.2 4 3rd 199124,45915.5 0 3rd 199518,846 11.4 3 4th
References
Further reading Busky, Donald F. (2000). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 71–72. .