The Centre Party () is a Nordic agrarian,

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 ...

, established in September 2017. It split from the Progressive Party due to leadership disputes, when two factions decided to band up as a new party before the

2017 Icelandic parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 28 October 2017. On 15 September 2017, the three-party coalition government collapsed after the departure of Bright Future over a scandal involving Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson's fath ...

Ideology

A self-proclaimed liberal and

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

party, the party is generally considered by some

and

. The party proposes to reform the state's banking sector, maintaining government ownership of Landsbankinn, while reclaiming the state's stake in

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 ...

, which is controlled by hedge funds, and redistributing a third of its shares among Icelanders. It also plans to sell the government's existing stake in

Íslandsbanki Íslandsbanki (, ) is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1875, formerly being the domestic part of Glitnir (bank), Glitnir banki hf., but on 15 October 2008 being split from the bankrupt Glitnir and reestablished into a new independent ...

. The party supports scrapping indexation on debts and opposes the

accession of Iceland to the European Union Accession refers to the general idea of joining or adding to. It may also refer to: * Accession (property law) * Accession, the act of joining a treaty by a party that did not take part in its negotiations; see Vienna Convention on the Law of Tre ...

. At the inaugural meeting of the party in Reykjavik on 8 October, the party's chairman and founder

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (; born 12 March 1975) is an Icelandic politician who was the prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to t ...

stated that the party supported the best ideas of the left and right, emphasizing both the protection of individual rights and social security, while also focusing on regional issues in the same vein of the Northern Powerhouse in the United Kingdom and improving benefits for the elderly. The party also proposes to improve ferry services and construct a new

university hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

. The party opposed the expansion of the abortion limit from the 16th week of the pregnancy to the 22nd week. The party opposed legislation to allow individuals to define their own gender in the eyes of the law. One of the party's members has called for teaching

climate change denial Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

views in public schools. In 2021, Sigmundur Davíð called for the Icelandic government to take up the same asylum policy as that implemented by the

Danish Social Democrats The Social Democrats ( , , S) is a Social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. A member of the Party of European Socialists, the Social Democrats have 50 out of 179 members of the Danish p ...

, that policy being to send asylum seekers to countries outside of Europe while their case is being processed. Sigmundur Davíð stated that the goal of this policy was to ensure that no one would come to the country seeking asylum.

Supporters

According to a poll conducted by the Social Science Research Institute 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 ...

for ''

Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record. Hi ...

'' in October 2017, the party drew nearly half its support from supporters of the Progressive Party in the

2016 Icelandic parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 29 October 2016. They were due to be held on or before 27 April 2017, but following the 2016 Icelandic anti-government protests, the ruling coalition announced that early elections would be held "i ...

, with another quarter from the Independence Party, and 13% from the liberal

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 Bright Future. Sigmundur Davíð has traditionally attracted support due to his nationalist and populist views, though he did not express such views during the 2017 campaign.

Controversy

In December 2018, a leaked recording captured four MPs of the Centre Party, including party leader Sigmundur Davíð, discussing women and a disabled woman in denigrating and sexually charged language. The scandal was known as the

Klaustur Affair The Klaustur Affair, also known in Iceland as Klaustur Recordings ''(Klaustursupptökurnar)'' or Klausturgate was a political scandal in Iceland triggered by audio recordings of a group Althing parliamentarians made without their knowledge at the ...

. In October 2021, Birgir Þórarinsson, who was elected as a Centre Party candidate in elections the month before, announced that he was leaving the Centre Party and joining the Independence Party instead. Birgir cited the 2018 scandal as his reason for leaving the party. After Birgir's defection, the Centre Party was left with two members of the Althing.

Election results

Leaders

References

External links

Official website (in Icelandic)
{{authority control Conservative parties in Iceland Eurosceptic parties in Iceland Liberal parties in Iceland Agrarian parties in Iceland Political parties established in 2017