New Coalition in City Hall

Showing the lowest voter turnout (77%) in recent memory, the results of Reykjavík city council elections on 27 May showed the Independence Party with seven of the council's 15 seats; the Social Democrats with four seats; the Leftist-Greens with two seats; and the Progressives and the Liberals with one seat each. This effectively ends the 12-year-rule of R-listinn, the coalition once comprised of the Social Democrats, the Progressives, and the Liberals.

While initially it appeared as though the Independence Party would form a coalition with the Liberals, talks on 29 May ended abruptly at noon, with the Independence Party deciding instead to join forces with the Progressives. Independence Party city councilman Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson will be the new mayor of Reykjavík, with Progressive councilman Björn Ingi Hrafnsson the chief of city council.

The Progressive Party did not appear as though it would even win a seat on city council until barely two weeks before the elections. Around this time, Hrafnsson remarked that Progressive Party losses and Independence Party gains could damage the two parties' relationship in parliament, where they also hold a majority coalition. Municipal elections around the country did in fact show the Independence Party winning more seats, while the Progressive Party has taken heavy losses. But no one in the Progressive Party has agreed with Hrafnsson's statement, and Prime Minister and Progressive Party member Halldór Ásgrímsson told reporters that relations between the two parties were stable. - pfn