electionstracker

Iceland 1953 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1953 parliamentary election in Iceland?

Independence Party won 21 of 52 seats with 37.1% of the vote. 89.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Iceland
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Independence Party won 21 of 52 seats with 37.1% of the vote; 89.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 0.9 points on 1949.

  • Independence Party 21 +2 seats 37.1% −2.4 points
  • Progressive Party 16 −1 seat 21.9% −2.6 points
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party 7 −2 seats 16.0% −3.5 points
  • Social Democratic Party 6 −1 seat 15.6% −0.9 points
  • National Preservation Party 2 6.0%
  • Republican Party 0 3.3%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Iceland 1949 parliamentary election, party by party.

27 of 52 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 37.1%

    Share of the vote won by Independence Party

    Independence Party won 21 of 52 seats. A majority needs 27.

  2. +2 seats

    Seats gained by Independence Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1949. People's Unity Party – Socialist Party lost 2 seats.

  3. 89.9%

    Voter turnout

    Up 0.9 points on 1949.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Independence Party21+237.1−2.428,738
Progressive Party16−121.9−2.616,959
People's Unity Party – Socialist Party7−216.0−3.512,422
Social Democratic Party6−115.6−0.912,093
National Preservation Party26.04,667
Republican Party03.32,531

± is the change against the Iceland 1949 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Independence Party 28,738
  • Progressive Party 16,959
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party 12,422
  • Social Democratic Party 12,093
  • National Preservation Party 4,667
  • Republican Party 2,531

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

89.9% of the 87,601 registered voters cast a ballot (78,754 ballots), up 0.9 points on 1949. 77,410 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Independence Party37.1% of votes40.4% of seats
  • Progressive Party21.9% of votes30.8% of seats
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party16.0% of votes13.5% of seats
  • Social Democratic Party15.6% of votes11.5% of seats
  • National Preservation Party6.0% of votes3.8% of seats
  • Republican Party3.3% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 8.0 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.2 by votes and 3.4 by seats; Independence Party led Progressive Party by 15.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of