Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir (; born 12 May 1988) is an Icelandic politician and economist who has served as the

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...

since December 2024, and is the current leader of the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance (, ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...

. She was elected to the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

in the 2021 parliamentary election. At age 37, she is the world's youngest serving state leader.

Early life and education

Kristrún was born in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

to Frosti Fífill Jóhannsson, an ethnographer, and Steinunn Guðný H. Jónsdóttir, a doctor. She graduated from Reykjavik Junior College. She then went on to earn a bachelor's degree from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

; a master's degree in international studies from Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs; and a master's degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Career

She has worked as a journalist for the business newspaper

Viðskiptablaðið ''Viðskiptablaðið'' (English: ''The Business Paper'') is an Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and E ...

and has been an employee in the analysis department of

Arion Bank Arion Banki hf., formerly Nýja Kaupþing hf. (), is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1930. The bank operates in the Greater Reykjavík area as well as in the largest urban areas around the country. In 2016 the bank had the third large ...

. She was a specialist for

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, first in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and later in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She served as the main economist for the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce in 2017, and in 2018, she became the main economist for the Kvika bank. She served until 2021, when she applied to be on the Social Democratic Alliance list in the Reykjavík South constituency.

Political career

Parliament

She was elected as a member of the

for the Reykjavík South constituency at the 2021 parliamentary election. At the 2024 snap election, she was elected to represent the Reykjavík North constituency. Prior to becoming prime minister, she sat on the Budget Committee between 2021 and 2024, with a brief stint on the Economic Affairs and Trade Committee in 2023.

Party leadership

She announced her candidacy for the party leadership in August 2022 and was later elected at the party congress in October unopposed with 94% of the vote.

Prime Minister of Iceland (2024–present)

Kristrún led her party into the 2024 snap election, securing 20.8% of the vote and 15 seats in the

. She held coalition negotiations with the

Viðreisn Viðreisn (), officially known in English as the Liberal Reform Party, is a Liberalism, liberal political party political parties in Iceland, in Iceland positioned on the Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right of the political spe ...

and People's Party which began on 4 December and concluded seventeen days later, when she was appointed prime minister along with her cabinet.

Personal life

Kristrún is married to Einar Bergur Ingvarsson, and they have two children born in 2019 and 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frostadottir, Kristrun 1988 births People from Reykjavík

Kristrún Frostadóttir Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir (; born 12 May 1988) is an Icelandic politician and economist who has served as the prime minister of Iceland since December 2024, and is the current leader of the Social Democratic Alliance. She was elected to the ...

Boston University alumni Kristrún Frostadottir Living people Kristrún Frostadottir Kristrún Frostadottir Kristrún Frostadottir

Kristrún Frostadottir Kristrún Frostadottir Kristrún Frostadottir Women prime ministers in Europe Yale University alumni