DV reports today that former education minister and former vice chair of the Independence Party, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, will be leading the list of candidates for the new Reform Party in the Southwest Iceland constituency in this fall’s election. She served as education minister during the financial crisis in 2008.
Morgunblaðið recently quoted Þorgerður Katrín as saying she had not made any decision about a change in careers. She is currently the head of education and innovation for SA – Business Iceland.
Þorgerður Katrín served as MP for the Independence Party for 14 years and as minister of education for six years. She resigned as vice chair of the party in 2010 and admitted she had been complacent during the time leading up to the financial crisis. She expressed regret for her mistakes and said she meant to learn from them. She and her husband received loans from Kaupþing bank, which in 2008 amounted to ISK 1.7 billion (USD 13.4 million, EUR 10 million). Þorgerður Katrín retired from politics in 2013.
From 2014 till 2015, she served as a judge on the TV show Iceland Got Talent.
It was announced on Friday last week that Iceland Review publisher, Benedikt Jóhannesson, would be leading the Reform Party list of candidates in the Northeast Iceland constituency.
The latest Gallup poll showed the Reform Party with 10.6 percent support.
