Union of Liberals and Leftists

Union of Liberals and Leftists Samtök frjálslyndra og vinstrimanna
Founder	Hannibal Valdimarsson Björn Jónsson
Founded	November 1969
Dissolved	1978
Split from	National Preservation Party (People's Alliance)
Headquarters	Reykjavík
Ideology	Social liberalism
Political position	Centre to centre-left
Politics of Iceland Political parties Elections

The Union of Liberals and Leftists (Icelandic: Samtök frjálslyndra og vinstrimanna) was a social-liberal[1] political party in Iceland.

History

The party was established in 1969 by dissidents from the People's Alliance who had formerly been members of the National Preservation Party.[2][3] Its members had contested the 1967 elections as independents, but failed to win a seat. It won five seats in the 1971 elections, and joined Ólafur Jóhannesson's first government,[4] with two ministers. However, it was reduced to two seats in the 1974 elections, and failed to win a seat in the 1978 elections. It did not contest the 1979 elections.[2]

Later President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was a member of this party together with later Foreign Affairs minister Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson.

References

1. Agust Thor Arnason (2006). "The European Union Seen From the Top – the View of an Inside-Outsider". In Joakim Nergelius (ed.). Nordic And Other European Constitutional Traditions. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 31. ISBN 90-04-15171-0.
2. Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p527 ISBN 0-313-23804-9
3. McHale, p523
4. McHale, p530