electionstracker

Iceland June 1959 parliamentary election

What was the result of the June 1959 parliamentary election in Iceland?

Independence Party won 20 of 52 seats with 42.5% of the vote. 90.6% 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 20 of 52 seats with 42.5% of the vote; 90.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 1.4 points on 1956.

  • Independence Party 20 +1 seat 42.5% +0.1 points
  • Progressive Party 19 +2 seats 27.2% +11.6 points
  • People's Alliance 7 −1 seat 15.2% −4.0 points
  • Social Democratic Party 6 −2 seats 12.5% −5.8 points
  • National Preservation Party 0 0 seats 2.5% −2.0 points
  • 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 1956 parliamentary election, party by party.

27 of 52 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 42.5%

    Share of the vote won by Independence Party

    Independence Party won 20 of 52 seats. A majority needs 27.

  2. +2 seats

    Seats gained by Progressive Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1956. Social Democratic Party lost 2 seats.

  3. 90.6%

    Voter turnout

    Down 1.4 points on 1956.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Independence Party20+142.5+0.136,029
Progressive Party19+227.2+11.623,061
People's Alliancewith People's Unity Party – Socialist Party and Debating Society of Social Democrats7−115.2−4.012,929
Social Democratic Party6−212.5−5.810,632
National Preservation Party002.5−2.02,137

± is the change against the Iceland 1956 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Independence Party 36,029
  • Progressive Party 23,061
  • People's Alliance 12,929
  • Social Democratic Party 10,632
  • National Preservation Party 2,137

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.

ParlGov counts an alliance's votes and seats under its first party: such a row names the allies it counts.

How many people voted?

90.6% of the 95,050 registered voters cast a ballot (86,147 ballots), down 1.4 points on 1956. 84,788 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Independence Party42.5% of votes38.5% of seats
  • Progressive Party27.2% of votes36.5% of seats
  • People's Alliance15.2% of votes13.5% of seats
  • Social Democratic Party12.5% of votes11.5% of seats
  • National Preservation Party2.5% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 7.5 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 3.2 by seats; Independence Party led Progressive Party by 15.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of