First gay premier takes helm in Iceland

Iceland's political parties have reached an agreement that will give the country its first female prime minister and the world its first openly gay leader.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, will lead the government when it is sworn in at 6 p.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) on Sunday, her political advisor Hrannar Arnarsson told CNN via e-mail.

A former flight attendant who entered politics via the union movement, Sigurdardottir was minister of social affairs and social security in the outgoing Cabinet, which resigned Monday.

She has been a member of Iceland's Parliament for 30 years, and was in her second stint as minister of social affairs. She started her career as a flight attendant for the airline that became IcelandAir. She was active in the flight attendants' labor union during her 11 years with the airline, according to her official resume.

She briefly led her own political party, which merged with other center-left parties to form the Alliance party.

Sigurdardottir would become Iceland's first female prime minister, although not the North Atlantic nation's first female head of state -- Vigdis Finnbogadottir became its fourth president in 1980.