Bright Future (Iceland)

Bright Future
Björt framtíð
ChairpersonTheodóra Sigurlaug Þorsteinsdóttir
Founded4 February 2012[1]
HeadquartersAusturstræti 8–10
Ideology
Political positionCentre[9]
Nordic affiliationCentre Group
ColoursPurple, White
Seats in Parliament
0 / 63
Election symbol
A
Website
www.bjortframtid.is

Bright Future (Icelandic: Björt framtíð) is a liberal[2][10] political party in Iceland founded in 2012. It briefly participated in government, supporting the first cabinet of Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson from January to September 2017 before withdrawing and triggering the 2017 Icelandic parliamentary election, in which it lost all seats.

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,[11][12] although it resigned its membership of ALDE in October 2019.[13]

History

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.[14][15][16] The party was formed to contest the April 2013 parliamentary election. The party won six seats, making it the fifth largest in parliament.

The party was reduced to four seats at the 2016 election, and was part of Bjarni Benediktsson's right-leaning governing coalition with Liberal Reform Party and Bjarni's Independence Party, with Björt Ólafsdóttir being named Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources and Óttarr Proppé being named Minister for Health. Subsequently, Bright Future dropped significantly in opinion polls.[17][18] After nine months in government, Bright Future withdrew from cabinet after it was revealed that Bjarni's father Benedikt Sveinsson had signed a letter seeking to "restore the honour" of a convicted paedophile, and that Bjarni had known since July.[19] 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 or 2024 parliamentary elections. Despite inactivity, the party continues to have a registered election symbol, meaning it is considered an active party.

Ideology

The party supports Iceland joining the European Union and adopting the euro as Iceland's national currency.[2][12]

Electoral results

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

Elected politicians

Chairpersons

ChairpersonPeriod
Guðmundur Steingrímsson2012–2015
Óttarr Proppé2015–2017
Björt Ólafsdóttir2017–2018
Theodóra Sigurlaug Þorsteinsdóttir2018–

Members of the Althing

References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 Tom Lansford, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 2683. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jelena Ćirić (27 October 2017). "Icelandic Parliamentary Election 2017: Party Overview". Iceland Review. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. ↑ [2][3]
  5. ↑ Khan, Irfan (2019-03-18). "What impact will the Panama Papers have on Iceland?". Political Studies Association. Retrieved 2026-07-19. Two of them gained seats: the social liberal Bright Future, co-founded by the former Best Party deputy leader Heiða Kristin Helgadóttir and also composed of Social Democratic and Progressive defectors; and the Pirate Party, co-founded by political activists and including former Citizen's Movement MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir.
  6. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Iceland". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  7. ↑ [3][5][6]
  8. ↑ "Politics in Iceland: A beginner's guide".
  9. ↑ [3][8]
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "ALDE Party - Member Parties". aldeparty.eu. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  12. 1 2 The Reykjavík Grapevine Election Guide 2013, The Reykjavík Grapevine, issue 4, 5 April 2013, p. 20.
  13. ↑ https://www.aldeparty.eu/news/alde-welcomes-new-member-parties-1
  14. ↑ "Iceland's newest political party gets shiny new name". IceNews – Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  15. ↑ "Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland, Current Affairs, Business, Politics, Sports, Culture". Icelandreview.com. 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2013-12-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ↑ e.c Software. "Online, Iceland news, Travel, Vacation, Culture, Hotels, Politics, Business". IcelandReview. Retrieved 2013-12-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ↑ "From Iceland — is the Future Bright for Iceland's Bright Future Party?". 21 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "New Government Announced Tomorrow". Iceland Review. 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  19. ↑ "Iceland government collapses over paedophile furore". 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
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