Following Reykjavík Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson’s gambit to dissolve the city council majority and form a new majority from centre to right, five left-wing parties have entered informal talks about forming their own coalition.
A risky move
As reported last Saturday, Einar made the decision to dissolve the council majority citing irreconcilable differences with coalition partners.
There are 23 seats in Reykjavík City Council. Einar hails from the Progressive Party, which has four seats. His former coalition partners–the Social Democrats, the Pirate Party and the Reform Party–have five seats, three seats and one seat, respectively.
Einar had hoped to form a new coalition with the Independence Party, who have six seats, and other parties. However, the People’s Party, which has one seat, immediately issued a statement saying that they would not be in any coalition with the Independence Party. Neither the Socialist Party, who have two seats, nor the Left-Greens, with their one seat, have any great love for the Independence Party, either.
All this effectively scuttled Einar’s plans for a new majority, and it was unclear what new majority may arise.
Five parties
RÚV now reports that representatives from the Social Democrats, the Pirates, the Reform Party, the Socialists and the Left-Greens have entered into informal talks about forming a new coalition.
Their first meeting was reported by Vísir to have been held in the home of Social Democrat representative Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir–perhaps unsurprisingly, as between these five parties, the Social Democrats have the most seats. It also bears mentioning that Reykjavík’s previous mayor, Dagur B. Eggertsson, also hails from the Social Democrats and was mayor for nearly ten years before handing the reins to Einar in January 2024.
These parties met again this morning. As it stands now, municipal elections are due to be held next year. What coalition Reykjavík may have in the interim remains to be seen.
