Guðni Th. Jóhannesson

Guðni at an event at Árbæjarsafnið in 2021.

Guðni decided to stand for president on 5 May 2016. Before his candidacy, he had appeared frequently on live television to provide commentary and historical context in the wake of the publication of the Panama Papers, which created a scandal for Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and ultimately led to his ouster.[9] A scholar of the Icelandic presidency, Guðni delineated on live television the options available to incumbent president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and other Icelandic political actors.[9] After his television appearances, there were calls for Guðni to run for the presidency himself.[9]

His platform included support for a citizen initiative referendum provision in the Constitution.[10] Early polls showed significant support,[11] and following incumbent president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson's decision to drop out of the race Guðni saw an increase in popularity reflected in various polls, which ranked him first with 67% to 69%, far ahead of other contenders.[12] Guðni was elected on 25 June after receiving a plurality of 39.1% of the vote.[13]

Guðni was unaffiliated with any of Iceland's political parties.[14] He said he would be a "less political president" than his predecessor due to a lack of partisanship.[14] Guðni has emphasized the importance of unity for the small nation.[14]

Guðni took office as President of Iceland on 1 August 2016.[15] At 48, he was Iceland's youngest president.[14] Roughly one month into his term, Guðni had approval ratings of 68.6% in an MMR survey, the highest approval rating this pollster has measured for an Icelandic president since its establishment in 2011.[16][17] Early in his term, Guðni had to oversee negotiations to form a government in Iceland in the wake of the 2016 Icelandic parliamentary election on 29 October.[18] These negotiations were difficult, as no pre-election coalition had a majority, and all possible majority coalitions had parties with highly divergent policy positions.[18][19][20][21][22] In December 2016, Guðni had approval ratings of 97%.[23] Such high approval ratings for Icelandic politicians are without precedent.[24] In April 2019, his approval rating was 93.5% among those who took a position in a survey.[9]

Guðni attracted international attention in February 2017 when he jokingly vowed to ban pineapple as a pizza topping.[25]

Guðni stands outside organized religion, but was raised in the Catholic faith. He left the Catholic Church due to its delayed and muted response to reports of criminal abuses by priests.[1][26][27] His credo is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "human beings are born free, equal in dignity and rights. Humans are endowed with reason and conscience and should act in the spirit of brotherhood towards each other."[1][26][27]

Guðni is the son of the teacher and journalist Margrét Thorlacius and the physical education teacher and coach Jóhannes Sæmundsson. His father died of cancer at age 42. He has two brothers, Patrekur (a former Icelandic men's national handball team player, who is coach of the Austria men's national handball team and father of rapper JóiPé)[28] and Jóhannes, who is a systems analyst.[1]

Guðni married Canadian Eliza Jean Reid in 2004 and they have four children.[29] The couple, who met while studying in the United Kingdom, moved to Iceland in 2003.[29] Reid became First Lady of Iceland when her husband was sworn into office.[29] Guðni also has a daughter from a previous marriage.

•  Iceland:
  • Grand Master and Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (1 August 2016)

•  Denmark:
  • Knight of the Order of the Elephant (24 January 2017).[31]
•  Finland:
  • Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (31 May 2017).[32]
•  Germany:
  • Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (12 June 2019)
•  Latvia:
  • Commander Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars (16 November 2018).[33]
•  Norway:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (21 March 2017).[34]
•  Sweden:
  • Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (17 January 2018).[35]
  • Recipient of the Commemorative Golden Jubilee Medal of His Majesty The King (15 September 2023).