Iceland is set to appoint the world's first openly gay woman as interim prime minister following the failure of the country's conservative-led government under the weight of the country's collapsed banks and billions of dollars of debt accumulated in an aggressive overseas expansion. She would also become the country's first female prime minister.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old openly gay social affairs minister is expected to be confirmed as Iceland's interim prime minister. She would also become the country's first female prime minister.
According to media reports, her appointment is expected to be confirmed within days by the new ruling coalition of the Alliance party and the Left-Green movement. The 66-year-old social affairs minister was first elected to Iceland's parliament in 1978 having entered politics through the labour movement, serving as a labour organiser when she worked as a flight attendant with Loftleidir Airlines - now Icelandair - in the 1960s and 1970s.
She now faces the challenge of repairing the nation's shattered economy as the International Monetary Fund predicts Iceland's economy is facing its biggest slump since the country won full independence from Denmark in 1944. The country - population 305,000 - has seen its currency plummet while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
She is known to be living with journalist Jonina Leosdottir, who became her civil partner in a ceremony in 2002. Sigurdardottir was previously married to a man and has two sons.