Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir (born 12 October 1966) is a politician and former

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 Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic minister, mayor and parliamentarian. She is currently the chair of the Executive Board of Women Political Leaders, Global Forum.womenpoliticalleaders.org Before that, she was the Minister of Interior after getting 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 ...

(Icelandic parliament) in 2013, and was

Mayor of Reykjavík The post of Mayor of Reykjavík () was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908. Páll Einarsson and Knud Zimsen applied for the job and Páll got the position for a period of six years, at the end of which he did not wish to renew his tenure. Rather ...

from 21 August 2008 to 15 June 2010, the president for the city council from 2006 to 2008 and member of the city council from 2002 to 2013. She represented the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkur). Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was born on 12 October 1966 to Aðalheiður J. Björnsdóttir and Kristján Ármannsson. She was born and raised in

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður, officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region, on the s ...

. She is married to business consultant Vilhjálmur Jens Árnason; they have two daughters. She obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at 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 ...

in 1991. After that, she got a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in international and European politics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(1993). By 1995, she was a member of the Independence Party, becoming a member of committee of the party's district association in Austurbær and Norðurmýri. She held various positions in the party, including Secretary General of the Parliamentary Group from 1995 to 1999 and Assistant Manager of the Independence Party from 1999 to 2006. Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was elected to the City Council of Reykjavík in 2002. From 2006 to 2008, she was the President of the City Council and the Chair of the Planning Committee. From 2008 to 2010 she was the

. In 2013, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was elected to the

Parliament of Iceland The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what lat ...

as the first MP for the Reykjavík South constituency. In the same year, she was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Independence Party. She became

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in 2013. On 21 November 2014, she resigned as Minister of the Interior as a response to one of her political assistant admitting leaking information regarding asylum seekers on 20 November 2013. Hanna Birna always claimed not having any knowledge of the wrongdoing of her assistant, but her resignation took effect on 4 December 2014 after the assistant pleaded guilty for the Reykjavík district court on 11 November 2014. In 2015, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir became chair of the

Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to: * Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development * Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade * Foreign Affairs Committee of t ...

in the

. She decides not to run for the 2016 Icelandic parliamentary election at the end of her term as MP. In 2016, she became the chair of the Executive Board of Women Political Leaders, Global Forum.

References

External links

Biography
on

Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristjansdottir, Hanna Birna 1966 births Living people Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Female interior ministers Alumni_of_the_University_of_Edinburgh