Won with only one vote margin

The leader of the Social Democratic Alliance ('Samfylkingin'), Árni Páll Árnason, was re-elected last night at the party's national congress with a margin of only one vote. Árnason received 241 vote while his opponent Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir MP got 240 votes. Ingadóttir announced her candidacy with a very short notice - on Thursday evening.

Those present were obviously shocked when the results were announced. Few senior party members were willing to comment on the situation when asked by journalists from mbl.is. Three MPs at least denied the request. Those who were willing to comment claimed they did not think the results would weaken the party. One former cabinet minister and a supporter of Árnason said he thought Ingadóttir's candidacy was some kind of a joke when he first heard of it due to the short notice. The chairman of the Social Democratic youth wing, however, said the vote was "shocking results" for the party.

Until Ingadóttir announced her candidacy it was generally expected that Árnason would be the sole candidate for the leadership and the sudden challenge obviously came as a surprise to him. Interviewed by mbl.is Árnason, who was first elected as a leader in 2013, said these were certainly not the results he had hoped for.

"These results put great responsibility on my shoulders and I will have to do a better job from now on. I haven't heard any special criticism towards my work as a leader since this challenge was announced. I have heard some general discussions but no direct criticism that I should have done something differently or something like that. But I will of course listen to all such criticism if it is put forward.“

The Social Democratic Alliance received 12.9 percent of the votes in the 2013 general elections. Down from 29.8 percent in 2009. The party is the leading opposition party having been in government from 2009- 2013 in a coalition with the Left Green Movement ('Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð'). The current government is formed by the conservative Independence Party ('Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn') and the centrist Progress Party ('Framsóknarflokkurinn').