The ( and
Liberal Party in
Iceland . The party is a member of the
Liberal International . Iceland's current
Prime Minister ,
Halldór Ásgrímsson , is a Progressive and governs in coalition with the conservative
Independence Party . From
1995 to
2004 , it participated in the coalition as the junior partner, but the two parties agreed after the
2003 legislative elections that Ásgrímsson would become Prime Minister in
September 2004 . He took office on
September 15 .
Though the Progressive Party was originally founded as an agrarian party and still finds most of its support from farmers and fishermen, it has gradually adopted the position of a liberal party in the political spectrum. It was founded in
1916 as a merger of two agrarian parties, the Farmers Party (''Bændaflokkur'') and the Independent Farmers (''Óháðir bændur'').
Throughout Iceland's history as a self-governing and independent nation, the Progressive Party has most often been the second largest political party in the country. It has often joined government coalitions with either the
Independence Party on the right, or with left-wing parties.
6 of its 12 chairmen have been prime ministers of Iceland
Tryggvi Þórhallsson PM 1927-1932 cm 1928-1932
Ásgeir Ásgeirsson PM 1932-1934 chair man 1932-1933
Hermann Jónasson PM 1934-1942 and 1956-1958 cm 1944-1962
Ólafur Jóhannesson PM 1971-1974 and 1978-1979 cm 1968-1979
Steingrímur Hermannsson PM 1983-1987 and 1988-1991 cm 1979-1994
Halldór Ásgrímsson PM 2004- cm 1994-
In addition to those
Steingrímur Steinþórsson headed a government from 1950 to 1953
