Bjarni Benediktsson was elected chairman of the Independence Party at its national convention yesterday. Benediktsson received 58.1 percent of votes while Kristján Thór Júlíusson received 40.4 percent.
Bjarni Benediktsson. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
The third candidate, Snorri Ásmundsson, hardly received any votes at all.
Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir was reelected as the party’s vice-chairperson with 80 percent of votes, Fréttabladid reports.
Benediktsson replaces former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde and is the party’s ninth chairman since it was founded in 1929.
Yesterday’s election was the first since the Independence Party voted between Davíd Oddsson and Thorsteinn Pálsson in 1991.
Benediktsson was born in 1970. He is educated as a lawyer and worked as such before he was elected to parliament in 2003.
Click here to read about Haarde’s keynote speech during the national convention on Thursday.
