The Best Party – an openly satirical party created by comedian Jón Gnarr – now has the greatest support of any other party running for Reykjavík city council.
According to a poll conducted by MMR, The Best Party now has the support of 36% of city residents, giving them six of city council’s 15 seats.
Following close behind is the Independence Party, with 31%, which is equivalent to five seats. The Social Democrats are now at 18% (three seats), and the Leftist-Greens are now at 11%, giving them one seat on city council. No other party polled high enough to win a seat.
Jón Gnarr – possibly acting in character – told reporters that he was frankly shocked that the party hadn’t polled higher than it did. When asked which parties he would consider forming a coalition with, he set the condition that any councilperson they ally with must have watched the HBO television series The Wire – perhaps a reference to the strong elements of city corruption present throughout the series.
Sóley Tómasdóttir, city councilperson for the Leftist-Green Party, told television station Stöð 2, “The Best Party is a really great joke, but I don’t know how funny the joke is – or how far you can go with this joke – when our children’s futures are at stake.”
In fairness to Sóley, the Best Party does not seem to have any other platform besides wanting to make the city a more fun place to live.