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The mayor said he was forced to end the majority partnership because he could not reach a consensus on planning, financial issues or preschool issues. Einar then said in an interview at the beginning of last week that the majority was shaken by the airport in Vatnsmýri. Arguments about it are said to have taken place at a “heat meeting” on Tuesday.

Einar says that Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir, leader of the Social Democratic Party, reacted angrily when he agreed with the Independence Party on the airport at a city council meeting. She described his words as the end of the majority partnership.

Who started it?
Representatives of the other parties in the majority give little credit for this. The loss of the majority was not discussed at this heated meeting of the leaders, neither during the meeting itself nor during the break.

The disagreement over the airport was not greater than before and that little had changed that should give reason to end the collaboration.

The Progressive Party, with Einar as leader, was recently measured with only 3.3 percent support. According to this Gallup poll, the majority would not have held if elections had been held. The Independence Party is measured with the most support and the Social Democratic Party with the second most.

Everyone talking to everyone
Einar is said to have started talking to representatives of the minority in the city council before he went to a meeting of his colleagues in the city council on Friday and announced that he wanted to end the collaboration.

He then said in an interview with RÚV after the meeting that he wanted to continue as mayor and invited formal talks there about forming a new majority.

23 representatives sit on the city council from 8 parties. In order to form a majority, 12 representatives are needed.

As early as Friday, it was obvious that Einar was counting on cooperation with the Independence Party, because together the parties had 10 representatives and only needed two more.

On Saturday, Inga Sæland, chairwoman of the People's Party, announced that working with the Independence Party in the city council was out of the question. The Socialists, Left Greens and Pirates have also ruled out cooperation with the Independence Party.

Now the situation has turned around. The representatives who have not ruled out cooperation are the only representative of Viðreisn and five representatives of the Samfylking. But they have just been betrayed by Einar, who blew up their majority.

Weekend talks and discussions
When it became clear that Einar could not work with the minority representatives, all formal discussions fell through. City councilors held informal talks on Sunday where they explored how the city should be governed next year.

It is possible to form a majority without the involvement of the Progressive Party and the Independence Party. To do this, the Coalition, Viðreisn and Pirates need to get four representatives instead of the Progressive Party; the entire minority outside the Independence Party.

Elections 2022 and next election 2026
The majority that exploded on Friday was formed after the 2022 elections with representatives from the Coalition, the Progressive Party, Viðreisn and Pirates. The Progressive Party had received a good election with a new leader in the bridge and had the cards in its hand.

The majority's oddities that Einar blew up when the collaboration was announced in the summer of 2022. Dagur B. Eggertsson became mayor to begin with, but it was decided that Einar would take over in the middle of the election term. This happened at the beginning of 2024. Dagur was then elected to the Alþingi in November and Heiða B. Hilmisdóttir is now the leader of the Social Democratic Party.

The next local elections in Iceland will be in the spring of 2026. That is why there is only a little over a year until the election. It is clear that the party support surveys have not strengthened Einar in his belief that collaboration with the majority that blew up would float him back to the mayor's chair. It is uncertain whether it was the grain that filled the meter.