Bright Future (Iceland)

Bright Future (Icelandic: Björt framtíð) is a liberal[2][6] political party in Iceland founded in 2012.

Bright Future
Björt framtíð
ChairpersonTheodóra Sigurlaug Þorsteinsdóttir
Founded4 February 2012[1]
HeadquartersAusturstræti 8–10
IdeologyLiberalism[2][3]
Social liberalism[3][4]
Green liberalism[3]
Pro-Europeanism[3]
Political positionCentre[3][5]
Nordic affiliationCentre Group
ColoursPurple, White
Election symbol
A
Website
www.bjortframtid.is

The party was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party and had links to the ALDE Group in the European Parliament,[7][8] although it resigned its membership of ALDE in October 2019.[9]

History

edit

The party was founded on 4 February 2012.[1] Before the 2013 general election, it included two Members of Parliament, Guðmundur Steingrímsson (who defected from the Progressive Party) and Róbert Marshall (who defected from the Social Democratic Alliance). Guðmundur had been elected as a candidate of the Progressive Party, but left the party to sit as an independent. In 2012, Guðmundur formed Bright Future with the Best Party, with which it shared initials in Icelandic, "BF." Several members of Best Party, which was dissolved in June 2014, joined Bright Future.[10][11][12] The party was formed to contest the April 2013 parliamentary election. The party won six seats, making it the fifth largest in parliament, but has since dropped significantly in opinion polls.[13] The party lost all of its Althing seats in the 2017 election. In the 2018 Icelandic municipal elections the party presented a combined list with the Liberal Reform Party under “BF-Viðreisn”. In 2019, the party’s leader, Theodóra Sigurlaug Þorsteinsdóttir, expressed an interest in merging the party with the Liberal Reform Party, but the plans have not come to fruition. The party did not present any lists in the 2021 parliamentary elections. Despite inactivity, the party continues to have a registered election symbol, meaning it is considered an active party.

Ideology

edit

The party supports Iceland joining the European Union and adopting the euro as Iceland's national currency.[2][8]

Electoral results

edit
Election Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
2013 15,583 8.25
6 / 63
  6   5th Opposition
2016 13,578 7.2
4 / 63
  2   6th Coalition
2017 2,394 1.2
0 / 63
  4   9th Extra-parliamentary

Elected politicians

edit

Chairpersons

edit
Chairperson Period
Guðmundur Steingrímsson 2012–2015
Óttarr Proppé 2015–2017
Björt Ólafsdóttir 2017–2018
Theodóra Sigurlaug Þorsteinsdóttir 2018–

Members of the Althing

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Declaration of the founding policy for Bright Future" (in Icelandic). Björt framtíð (Bright Future). 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Tom Lansford, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 2683. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  3. ^ a b c d e Jelena Ćirić (27 October 2017). "Icelandic Parliamentary Election 2017: Party Overview". Iceland Review. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Iceland". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  5. ^ "Politics in Iceland: A beginner's guide".
  6. ^ Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC 1256593260.
  7. ^ "ALDE Party - Member Parties". aldeparty.eu. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b The Reykjavík Grapevine Election Guide 2013, The Reykjavík Grapevine, issue 4, 5 April 2013, p. 20.
  9. ^ https://www.aldeparty.eu/news/alde-welcomes-new-member-parties-1 [dead link]
  10. ^ "Iceland's newest political party gets shiny new name". IceNews – Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  11. ^ "Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland, Current Affairs, Business, Politics, Sports, Culture". Icelandreview.com. 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2013-12-29.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ e.c Software. "Online, Iceland news, Travel, Vacation, Culture, Hotels, Politics, Business". IcelandReview. Retrieved 2013-12-29.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "From Iceland — is the Future Bright for Iceland's Bright Future Party?". 21 May 2015.
edit