In the fall of 1970 he came in number one in the primary for elections to Althing, ahead of prime minister Jóhann Hafstein and former mayor Gunnar Thoroddsen.

He was a member of parliament from 1970 (taking his permanent seat with the death of prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson) until 1983.

[1] His government expanded the fishing limits to 200 miles (370 km) and had to fight Britain in the 'Cod War'.

After Iceland had broken diplomatic relations with Britain in 1976 over the dispute, negotiations led to an agreement in June that year.

A year later the Independence Party failed to make significant gains in an election after the government had resigned.

However Geir suffered a setback when he came in seventh in the primary for the parliamentary elections and lost his seat in parliament.

[1] He left government in 1986, becoming one of the three Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, a position he held until his death in September 1990.