Politics of the Faroe Islands

The high commissioner is appointed by the Monarch of Denmark. The High Commissioner has a seat in the Løgting, with the ability to speak in the Løgting regarding common Danish/Faroese affairs, but is unable to vote.^[3]

Following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually given the initiative to establish a new coalition by the Faroese Parliament, unless the current Løgmaður (Prime Minister in English) is still in power. However, if the leader fails, the chairman of the parliament asks all chairs of the parties elected to the parliament, and asks them to point to another party leader who they feel can rightly form a new coalition. The leader with the most votes is then handed the initiative.

The Løgmaður appoints and leads the landsstýri, the Cabinet, which is usually a coalition government. The landsstýri will often consist of around 7 members, called landsstýrismaður (male) or landsstýriskvinna (female). The word ráðharri is also used for a member of the cabinet, i.e. mentamálaráðharri (minister of culture) or heilsumálaráðharri (minister of health).

The Faroese Parliament (Løgtingið in Faroese) has 33 MPs (members of parliament), elected for a four-year term by proportional representation.

Election of 2 seats to the Danish Parliament was last held 31 October 2022: Social Democrat 1, Unionist 1.

The Faroe Islands have a multi-party system, disputing on independence and unionism as well as left and right.

The Faroese Parliament (Løgting) has 33 seats. Members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. For the Løgting elections, there were seven electoral districts, each one comprehending a sýslur, while Streymoy is divided into northern and southern parts (Tórshavn region), but since 2008, the Faroes constitute a single district.^[6] With numerous parties, a single party is rarely able to form a government alone, with coalition governments being the norm.

In the 2026 general election, the conservative People's Party won the election, with 26.8% of the vote and moving forward from five to nine seats in the Løgting. Their vote share was the highest of any one party since 1990. The Union Party and Social Democrats followed with seven and six seats respectively. The 2026 election also saw the return of Sjálvstýri with one seat, having lost their mandate in the previous election.^[7][8] The number of women elected to the Løgting was 10, the same amount as the last election.^[9][10]

More information Party, Votes ...

Composition of the Løgting following the 2026 Faroese general election

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party	9,451	26.75	9	+3
	Union Party	7,600	21.51	7	0
	Social Democratic Party	6,672	18.88	6	–3
	Republic	6,143	17.39	6	0
	Progress	2,319	6.56	2	–1
	Centre Party	1,866	5.28	2	0
	Sjálvstýri	1,284	3.63	1	+1
Total		35,335	100.00	33	0
Valid votes		35,335	99.43
Invalid votes		57	0.16
Blank votes		145	0.41
Total votes		35,537	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		39,703	89.51
Source: kvf.fo

Close

The islands are administratively divided into 29 municipalities with about 120 cities and villages.

Traditionally, there are also the 6 sýslur (Norðoyar, Eysturoy, Streymoy, Vágar, Sandoy, and Suðuroy). Sýsla means district and although it is only a police district today, it is still commonly understood as a geographical region. In earlier times, each sýsla had its own ting, the so-called várting (spring ting).

The nation continues to be intimately tied with the Nordic countries of Europe and the European Union.

Along with diplomatic missions to Iceland, the Court of St. James's (United Kingdom), Russia, and the European Union,^[11] the Faroe Islands participate in the Nordic Council, NIB, International Maritime Organization, International Whaling Commission (Complete list of participation of the Faroe Islands in international organisations).

• Cabinet of the Faroe Islands
• List of lawmen and prime ministers of the Faroe Islands
• Politics of Denmark
• List of high commissioners of the Faroe Islands