Thomasdottir Hull (Halla Tomasdottir)

Thomasdottir Hull (Halla Tomasdottir)

Biography

2024: Iceland's presidential election win

Halla Thomasdottir, who previously served as executive director of the non-profit organization The B Team, one of the founders of which is the famous entrepreneur from Great Britain, Richard Branson, won the presidential election in Iceland. This was announced on June 2, 2024 by the national broadcasting service RUV.

According to the voting results, 34.3% of voters cast their votes for Thomasdottir. Her closest rivals - former Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and Halla Hrund Logadottir - received support from 25.2% and 15.5% of citizens, respectively. In total, 13 candidates took part in the elections.

During the election campaign, Tomasdottir positioned herself as a politician outside the party framework and able to initiate public discussions on such important topics as the impact of social networks on the mental health of the younger generation, the prospects for the development of the tourism industry in Iceland and the role of artificial intelligence technologies, - emphasizes the television company RUV.

According to RUV, Tomasdottir, who is 55 years old, will become the second woman in the history of Iceland to take over as head of state. The first was Vigdis Finnbogadottir, who led the country from 1980 to 1996. At the same time, Icelanders Johanna Sigurdardottir and Catherine Jakobsdottir at different periods headed the government of the island state.

Despite the fact that the President of Iceland performs mainly representative functions, he has the right to reject bills approved by MPs, as well as initiate popular referendums on fundamental issues of national importance.

RUV noted that the entry of Hala Thomasdottir into the presidency is scheduled for August 1, 2024. She will replace Gudni Johannesson, who was at the helm of Iceland for 8 years.

It is noteworthy that in the presidential elections in Iceland, any citizen of the country who managed to enlist the support of at least 1,500 voters can run. The population of the largest island in Europe is about 380 thousand people.^[1]

Notes