[1] The result was a victory for the incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who defeated his nearest rival Thóra Arnórsdóttir by nearly 20% of the vote, and went on to serve a record fifth term as president of Iceland.

Main candidates: Others: Two other candidates declared their intent to stand in the election, but later dropped out:[11] After trailing in the opinion polls, Ólafur resorted to a negative campaign against Thóra, saying she would be "dangerous for the country" and that she would "do nothing but follow the government's will, particularly in terms of foreign policy", in continuing its membership application to the European Union being pursued by the current government led by Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir's Social Democratic Alliance, and he had reservations about the prospect of being a member of the EU.

"[17] An opinion poll published on 21 May by the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Iceland showed Thóra leading with 46.2%, with Ólafur on 37.8%.

[12] An average of three poll prior to the election indicated Ólafur leading with 45% and Thóra in second place with 37.7% ahead of four other candidates.

The president...shall assist the country in tackling the biggest issues; they will determine the fate of Icelanders for decades.

[26] According to Euronews, Ólafur's win was seen as having "emboldened a presidential office that had up until then played a mainly ceremonial role.