Inga Sæland

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a family name, but this person is referred to by the given name Inga.
Inga Sæland
Official portrait, 2021
Minister of Social Affairs and Housing
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 December 2024
Prime MinisterKristrún Frostadóttir
Preceded byBjarni Benediktsson
(Social Affairs and Labour Market)
Chairperson of the People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 January 2016
Preceded byParty established
Member of the Althing
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 October 2017
ConstituencyReykjavík South
Personal details
Born (1959-08-03) 3 August 1959 (age 65)
Ólafsfjörður, Iceland
Political partyPeople's Party (2016–present)
Other political
affiliations		Social Democratic Alliance (until 2016)
SpouseÓli Már Guðmundsson
Children4
Alma materUniversity of Iceland (LLB)

Inga Sæland (born 3 August 1959)[1] is an Icelandic politician. She is the founder and current leader of the People's Party, and has served as a member of the Althing since her election in 2017. Inga has served as the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing in the cabinet of Kristrún Frostadóttir since 2024.

Early life

Inga was born in Ólafsfjörður as the second of four children. For the first two years of her life, Inga was blind after suffering damage to her brain stem due to incorrect medication taken after contracting chickenpox and meningitis.[2] In her adulthood, Inga is legally blind with 10% of her vision remaining. Inga was raised in an impoverished family, and has stated that her political beliefs are influenced by this upbringing.[3]

Inga graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Iceland in 2016, and had previously studied political science at the university from 2003 to 2006.[1][4] Inga was a contestant in the Icelandic version of the singing competition programme The X Factor in 2006, ultimately placing fifth in the competition.[5]

Political career

Inga founded the People's Party in 2016, a populist political party intended to advocate for Icelanders who "have suffered injustices, differences, lawlessness and poverty".[6] The party has been cited as syncretic, with left-wing stances on disability rights and poverty, and right-wing stances on other issues such as immigration.[7] As a politician, Inga has described herself as a populist and compared herself to the French politician Marine Le Pen.[8]

Inga was elected to the Althing in the 2017 parliamentary election for the Reykjavík South constituency. In 2018, the party was involved in the Klaustur Affair, when party members Karl Gauti Hjaltason and Ólafur Ísleifsson were secretly recorded making disparaging comments about Inga along with former prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and other politicians of the Centre Party.[6] As a result of the scandal, both Karl and Ólafur were expelled from the People's Party and joined the Centre Party.[6][9]

Inga was reelected in the 2021 and 2024 parliamentary elections. The party saw their best performance in the latter election, even winning the most votes of any party in the South constituency.[10] Following the 2024 election, Kristrún Frostadóttir of the Social Democratic Alliance announced her intention to negotiate a coalition government with the People's Party and Viðreisn.[11][12][13][14] The coalition agreement was later signed between Inga, Kristrún, and Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir of Viðreisn in December 2024, and Inga was appointed by Kristrún to serve as Minister of Social Affairs and Housing in her cabinet.[15]

Personal life

Inga is married to Óli Már Guðmundsson, with whom she has four children and five grandchildren.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Inga Sæland – Æviágrip þingmanna". Alþingi.
  2. ^ "Bjartsýni og bros bjarga deginum". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 23 March 2007.
  3. ^ "Flokkur Fólksins: The Populist Uprising? – The Reykjavik Grapevine". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Inga Sæland". ruv.is. 18 October 2016.
  5. ^ Pálsson, Stefán Árni (11 January 2017). "Missti framan af putta í X-Factor: Voru fráskilin í 16 ár en Inga Sæland fór á skeljarnar í sumar - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "The People's Party articles of association" (in Icelandic).
  7. ^ Fontaine, Andie Sophia (23 February 2021). "Iceland's Political Parties: Who Are These People?". The Reykjavík Grapevine.
  8. ^ "Inga Sæland: „Ég er sennilega svona Marine Le Pen týpa"". Kjarninn (in Icelandic). 2 August 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Protests Outside Alþingi on Iceland's Centenary". Iceland Review. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Kosningar". MBL (in Icelandic).
  11. ^ "Inga Sæland hallar sér upp að Kristrúnu". mbl.is. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Kristrún Frostadóttir Receives The Mandate To Form Government". grapevine.is. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  13. ^ "From Iceland — Kristrún Frostadóttir Begins Formal Government Formation". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Valkyrie Coalition: Iceland's New Political Era". www.devdiscourse.com. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  15. ^ Iceland Monitor. "These are the ministers of the government". Iceland Monitor.is. Retrieved 21 December 2024.