As Althingi reconvenes after the summer break today, the number of women who hold seats in the Icelandic parliament has never been higher. Women now make up 44.4% of parliamentarians, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, reports.
44.4% of parliamentarians are women
Out of 63 permanent seats in parliament 28 are held by women, while 35 are held by men. The previous record was 27, after the election of 2009. This does not take into account alternate members who take a seat in parliament for shorter periods of time. This record was set in October 2009, when 30 women, 26 permanent MPs and 4 alternate MPs, sat in parliament at the same time.
Two new female parliamentarians take their seats this fall. Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir takes the seat of Jón Þór Ólafsson of the Pirate party. Jón, who had not planned on running a second time, had promised to resign from parliament midway through his four year term to make way for a successor who was willing to take his seat. Since then Jón has returned to his previous job of mixing asphalt. Ásta studies history at the University of Iceland.
Read more: Exclusive interview with Pirate MP: Resigned from Parliament to mix asphalt
The second woman to take a seat in parliament is Sigríður Á. Andersen, for the conservative party, who replaces Pétur Blöndal who passed away this summer. Pétur, who had a doctorate in mathematics was also one of the founders of Kaupthing in 1982. Sigríður Á. Andersen is a lawyer.
A decades long struggle
The first Icelandic woman to take a seat in parliament was Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason, who was elected on July 8 1922. Progress was depressingly slow for the next decades. It was only in 1971 that three women took seats in parliament at the same time, and it was only in 1983 that more than three women were elected to parliament at the same time. This milestone was secured by The Women‘s List, a feminist party, which managed to get 5.5% of the vote and six women elected.
As Althingi reconvenes after the summer break today, the number of women who hold seats in the Icelandic parliament has never been higher. Women now make up 44.4% of parliamentarians, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, reports.
44.4% of parliamentarians are women
Out of 63 permanent seats in parliament 28 are held by women, while 35 are held by men. The previous record was 27, after the election of 2009. This does not take into account alternate members who take a seat in parliament for shorter periods of time. This record was set in October 2009, when 30 women, 26 permanent MPs and 4 alternate MPs, sat in parliament at the same time.
Two new female parliamentarians take their seats this fall. Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir takes the seat of Jón Þór Ólafsson of the Pirate party. Jón, who had not planned on running a second time, had promised to resign from parliament midway through his four year term to make way for a successor who was willing to take his seat. Since then Jón has returned to his previous job of mixing asphalt. Ásta studies history at the University of Iceland.
Read more: Exclusive interview with Pirate MP: Resigned from Parliament to mix asphalt
The second woman to take a seat in parliament is Sigríður Á. Andersen, for the conservative party, who replaces Pétur Blöndal who passed away this summer. Pétur, who had a doctorate in mathematics was also one of the founders of Kaupthing in 1982. Sigríður Á. Andersen is a lawyer.
A decades long struggle
The first Icelandic woman to take a seat in parliament was Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason, who was elected on July 8 1922. Progress was depressingly slow for the next decades. It was only in 1971 that three women took seats in parliament at the same time, and it was only in 1983 that more than three women were elected to parliament at the same time. This milestone was secured by The Women‘s List, a feminist party, which managed to get 5.5% of the vote and six women elected.
