Sif María Vilhjálmardattir

*This name uses Velkanian naming customs; the last name is a patronymic, not a family name. This person should be properly referred to by the given name* Sif.

**Sif María Vilhjálmardattir** (born 30 August 1975) is a Velkanian politician who has served as prime minister of the Velkanian Isles since 2014. She has additionally served as leader of the Liberal-Conservative Party since 2013, and as a member of the Orthing since 2006. Sif was the fourth Velkanian woman to serve as prime minister, and the first to lead the Liberal-Conservative Party.

Born in Narísandur, Sif graduated from Narísandur Junior College in 1995, studying a social sciences program. After graduating, she moved to Vadhelle to attend the University of Vadhelle, graduating with a degree in Christian studies in 1998. She remained in Vadhelle for one year after her graduation, working for a nonprofit organization, and later returned to Narísandur in 1999, where she was a housewife. In 2003, Sif returned to the workforce after becoming a legislative assistant in the Orthing. She left the position in 2006, after being elected to the Orthing as a member of parliament in the 2006 election. Shortly after her election, Sif received widespread media coverage and was hailed as the "future of the Liberal-Conservatives," with political analysts arguing that she had the potential to usher in a new generation of Liberal-Conservatives who were younger and more diverse than the current cohort. She was reelected for a second term in the 2010 election.

Following her subsequent reelection, Sif became a senior member of the party, frequently being delegated by party leader Heinrekur Jón Jónsson as a spokesperson for the party both on television and in parliament. In January 2013, Heinrekur confirmed that he would be retiring from politics and stepping down as leader, thus triggering a leadership election. Sif declared her candidacy and was quickly endorsed by a number of party officials; she went on to defeat her only challenger Gréta Íngolfardattir in a landslide victory and became leader of the Liberal-Conservative Party, the first woman to lead the party and the youngest ever leader. After becoming leader, Sif sought to modernize the party and push the political platform away from social conservatism and more to liberalism, openly supporting same-sex marriage and adoption rights, on-request abortion rights, and the loosening of asylum restrictions, while still supporting economically liberal ideas. She led the party into the 2014 election, seeing a widespread increase in seats and a specific increase in youth and female support for the party. Following the party's victory, she formed the first Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinet as a coalition government between the Liberal-Conservatives and Centrists, becoming the youngest person and fourth woman to serve as prime minister. She led the party to similar success in the 2018 election.

## Early life and education

Sif was born on 30 August 1975 in Narísandur to parents Vilhjálmur Ingiþórsson (born 1950) and Anna Mjöll Höskuldardattir (born 1953). Her father was a minister of the Church of Framland, while her mother was a homemaker-turned-primary school music teacher. Sif has described her upbringing as "very religious," stating how she felt very isolated from her peers due to the high levels of irreligion in the Velkanian Isles. She is the elder of two children; her younger brother is Ísak, born  (1977-02-13) 13 February 1977 (age 46). The family resided in the suburban Greniklaustur neighborhood of Narísandur in a modest three-bedroom home.

Sif began her education in 1981, attending a local, public primary school in Greniklaustur. She recalls being bullied by her classmates due to her religious beliefs, which caused her to be shy and jaded. After graduating from primary school in 1991, Sif enrolled in Narísandur Junior College to study a social sciences program and graduated in 1995. While in secondary school, Sif began to come out of her shell more and made her first close friends. After graduating, she moved to Vadhelle to enroll in the Faculty of Theological Studies and World Religions at the University of Vadhelle, graduating with a degree in Christian studies in 1998. At one point during university, Sif had considered becoming a minister, but ultimately decided she did not want that life for herself.

## Nonprofit career and homemaker

After graduating with her degree, Sif remained in Vadhelle for one year, working as a coordinator at the nonprofit organization Christians for Change. The organization had an association with the Church of Resha, and advocated for Christian democratic reform in the Thusting, supporting increased assistance for the less fortunate, immigrants, and refugees.

In 1999, Sif left her job in Vadhelle and returned to her hometown of Narísandur with her husband. She subsequently became a housewife and stay-at-home mother, caring for her two children. In 2003, Sif decided to reenter the workforce and became interested in politics, being hired as a legislative assistant in the Orthing. While working in the Orthing, Sif fleshed out her personal political beliefs independent of the various influences she'd had on them throughout the years. She left the job in 2006, in order to begin her own political career.

## Political career

### Early politics

Sif began her political career in 2006, after she was included on the Liberal-Conservative Party list for the 2006 election. She ultimately was elected to the Orthing, taking her seat on 17 May 2006. Following her election, Sif became the youngest Liberal-Conservative woman to ever be elected to the Orthing, being only 30 years old at the time of her swearing in.

Immediately following her election, Sif received an onslaught of media attention. For the past several years, the Liberal-Conservatives had been plagued by accusations that they did not represent women or the youth well, and were a party of the "old generation." With Sif's election, the media began to label her as the "future of the Liberal-Conservatives," believing that she had the potential to reinvigorate the party and bring back women and the youth into the party's grand coalition of supporters. Sif welcomed the expectations, stating that she was "honored to have such support behind [her]" and that she "hope[d] to capitalize on every expectation." After taking her seat in parliament, Sif joined the centrist faction of Liberal-Conservatives led by party leader Heinrekur Jón Jónsson. She had asserted that the party's unwillingness to move to the left on certain social issues and acknowledge the progression of time was what was holding the party back from broadening their base.

Sif was ultimately reelected to parliament in the 2010 election, after which she was promoted by Heinrekur to a more senior position within the party. Sif became one of the party's chief spokespeople, often making television appearances and representing the party in parliament floor debates. Following this increase in her role's visibility, Sif began polling as the second-most visible politician within her party, behind only Heinrekur himself; however, while she had less visibility than him, the Velkanian public also looked at her more positively by an average of seven percentage points. While a senior member of the party, Sif was instrumental in getting the party to publicly support initiatives to legalize same-sex marriage in 2012.

### Party leader

On 24 April 2013, Heinrekur announced that he would not be running for reelection in the upcoming election, as he would be retiring from politics. With his upcoming retirement, Heinrekur also confirmed that he would be standing down as party leader, thus triggering a leadership election. Sif immediately emerged as the clear frontrunner in the leadership election, with the media declaring that it'd be a "cake walk" for her and openly considering whether any other members of the party would even challenge her. She declared her candidacy on 1 May 2013, pledging to "modernize and reform" the party.

Three days after announcing her campaign, Gréta Íngolfardattir announced her own campaign for the party leadership on 4 May. With Gréta seen as an outsider candidate, most political analysts declared the election was Sif's to lose following the closure of nominations. Throughout the campaign, polling saw Sif dominating the election by near thirty percentage points, with Gréta only maintaining support with the right-wing conservative branch of the party. Ultimately, members of the party elected Sif with 76% of the vote, leading Sif to become the first woman and youngest person ever to lead the party.

After securing the party leadership, Sif sought a campaign to revolutionize the party by incorporating women and the youth into the party's coalition of voters. She traveled the country, visiting universities, secondary schools, and women's shelters in order to get out the vote. In October 2013, Sif gave a widely acclaimed speech at her alma mater Narísandur Junior College, speaking about her upbringing and experiences in school, with analysts stating that she was able to speak to the youth better than any other Velkanian politician ever had. She ultimately led the party into the 2014 election, where the party saw their greatest gain in seats in more than thirty years.

### Prime minister

After her widespread success in the 2014 election, Sif was entrusted by Ragnhildur II to form a government. During coalition talks, Sif swore off any coalition deal with the Independence Party or the Green-Socialist Party, calling them "radicals" and reaffirming her party's support for "moderate and pragmatic" solutions to issues. She later also affirmed that she would not form a coalition with the Social Democratic Party, stating that the "election results were proof that the Velkanian people desired new leadership."

On 20 March 2014, it was announced that Sif had reached a coalition deal with the Centrist Party, and that ministerial appointments would begin to be discussed. On 30 March, Sif and her cabinet were sworn in by Ragnhildur II; this made Sif the fourth female prime minister and the youngest person to ever serve in the office in Velkanian history, at only 38 years old. With the swearing-in of her cabinet, Sif was praised by the media for ushering in a new generation of leadership; the median age was 36, while the preceding cabinet had a median age of 61. This distinction led the media to facetiously proclaim her government as "the youngest government in the world."

After taking office as prime minister, Sif focused her administration's efforts on enacting classically liberal policies, passing measures that legalized same-sex adoption and surrogacy, loosened abortion restrictions, and introduced a number of tax benefits for young parents and students. By 2016, Sif had an average approval rating of 65–70%. She went on to lead the party into similar success in the 2018 election. Following the election, the coalition government with the Centrists was ended in favor of a coalition with the People's Party and Reform Party, creating the second Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinet.

## Personal life

Sif began a relationship with Reshan nonprofit employee Max Renning in 1996, while they were both students at the University of Vadhelle. They became engaged after six months of dating, and later married in 1998, one month after their graduation. The family resided in Vadhelle for one year after graduating, but ultimately decided they preferred to raise their children in the Velkanian Isles, moving to Narísandur in March 1999. They have two children together: Finnbjörn Þór, born  (1999-07-09) 9 July 1999 (age 24), and Dröfn Kolfinna, born  (2001-05-01) 1 May 2001 (age 22).

Sif is a practicing member of the Church of Framland, and attends church weekly. She is fluent in Reshan, Framish, and Ditrovian, in addition to her native Velkanian. Sif and her family resided in the Þórlákstaður neighborhood of Narísandur until 2014, when they moved into Garðaröst.

Sif has been close friends with Ragnhildur II since at least 2012, when they were first seen out in public together. The media has reported that the two frequently have lunch breaks, family dinners, and "girls' nights" together, while their husbands are also similarly close friends. In 2015, Ragnhildur called Sif a "close family friend," but reaffirmed how their friendship does not impact her own devotion to non-partisanship. In 2018, it was confirmed by the House of Ásthildur that The Crown Princess was in a romantic relationship with Sif's son Finnbjörn.