Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir

About Guðrún

Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir is the leader of the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), a Member of Parliament for the South Constituency and a former Minister of Justice.

Background and education

Guðrún was born in Selfoss on 9 February 1970 and comes from Hveragerði. Her father, Hafsteinn Kristinsson, a dairy engineer, founded the ice cream company Kjörís, which shaped the first half of her working life.

She matriculated from Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurlands in 1991, took a BA in anthropology at the University of Iceland in 2008 and a diploma in applied gender studies at the same university in 2011.

Business career

Guðrún worked at Kjörís for nearly three decades — first as finance director and managing director in the 1990s, later as marketing director from 2008 to 2021 — and sat on the company board from 1993.

Alongside this she took an increasing part in the leadership of Icelandic business. She sat on the board of the Federation of Icelandic Industries from 2011 and chaired it from 2014 to 2020, sat on the board and executive committee of the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise and was its deputy chair from 2015 to 2017. She chaired the boards of the Pension Fund of Commerce and of the Icelandic Pension Funds Association from 2018 to 2021, and sat on the boards of Reykjavík University and the Blue Lagoon.

Politics

Guðrún was elected to Alþingi for the South Constituency in 2021 and chaired the Economic Affairs and Trade Committee from 2021 to 2023. She served as Minister of Justice from 19 June 2023 to 21 December 2024, and was elected leader of the Independence Party in 2025.

She sits on the Industries Committee and the Þingvellir Committee, and is a member of the Icelandic delegation to the West Nordic Council.

In her home town

Guðrún has long been active in community life in Hveragerði. She chaired the town’s planning and environment committee from 1994 to 1998, led the swimming division of the Hamar sports club from 2004 to 2014, and sat on the parish council of Hveragerði Church from 2011 to 2021, chairing it in her final years there.

Based on her parliamentary biography.

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