Southwest (Althing constituency)


Southwest is one of the six multi-member constituencies of the Althing, the national legislature of Iceland. The constituency was established in 2003 following the re-organisation of constituencies across Iceland when the Reykjanes constituency was split between the new South and Southwest constituencies. Southwest is conterminous with the Capital region but excludes Reykjavík Municipality which has its own constituencies, Reykjavík North and Reykjavík South. The constituency currently elects 12 of the 63 members of the Althing using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2024 parliamentary election it had 79,087 registered electors.

History

In September 1997 Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson appointed a committee headed by Friðrik Klemenz Sophusson to review the division of constituencies in Iceland and the organisation of elections. The committee's report was published in October 1998 and recommended, amongst other things, that the number of constituencies be reduced and that they be more equal in population size. The Althing passed an amendment to the constitution in June 1999 which removed the reference to specific eight constituencies contained within Article 31 and instead simply stated that there would be six or seven constituencies and that the Althing would determine the boundaries between the constituencies. The amendment also required that if, following an election to Althing, the number of registered electors per seat in any constituency is less than half of that in another constituency, the National Electoral Commission shall change the allocation of seats so as to reduce the imbalance.
Southwest was one of six constituencies established by the "Elections to the Althing Act no. 24/2000" passed by the Althing in May 2000. The Act initially allocated 11 seats to the constituency - nine constituency seats and two compensatory seats. The number of seats allocated to Southwest was increased to 12 in May 2003, 13 in May 2013 and 14 in October 2021.

Electoral system

Southwest currently elects 12 of the 63 members of the Althing using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. Constituency seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method. Compensatory seats are calculated based on the national vote and are allocated using the D'Hondt method at the constituency level. Only parties that reach the 5% national threshold compete for compensatory seats.

Election results

Detailed

2020s

2024
Results of the 2024 parliamentary election held on 30 November 2024:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2021 parliamentary election held on 25 September 2021:
The following candidates were elected:

2010s

2017
Results of the 2017 parliamentary election held on 28 October 2017:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2016 parliamentary election held on 29 October 2016:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2013 parliamentary election held on 27 April 2013:
The following candidates were elected:

2000s

2009
Results of the 2009 parliamentary election held on 25 April 2009:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2007 parliamentary election held on 12 May 2007:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2003 parliamentary election held on 10 May 2003:
The following candidates were elected: