According to the latest Capacent poll, the Leftist-Green Party is polling the strongest of any other party running in the Northwest district of Iceland, mere weeks before elections.
The party currently holds 25.7% support, which would earn them two seats from the district instead of the one they currently hold. Not far behind are the Social Democrats, with 24.7%, followed by the Conservatives, with 23.9%.
The change is significant in this largely fishing-oriented rural district, which was for decades a stronghold of conservativism – the farthest to the left the district has ever swung was in supporting the centre-right Progressives, currently polling there at 19.5%. It is also the birthplace of the Liberal Party who, this time around, do not even poll well enough to earn them a seat in parliament – they weigh in at just 3.9%.
The significance becomes even more apparent when the previous figures are looked at. During the previous elections, the Leftist-Greens managed to gain just 16% of the vote – a difference of nearly 10%. Compare this to the single-digit bump the Social Democrats have gained in the same time – up from 21.2% – and the drop in support for the Conservatives – down from 29.1%, losing a seat in parliament. Support for the Progressives has changed little; in the previous elections, they brought in 18.8% of the vote, making the difference between then and now less than one percent, but still enough to manage to win another seat in parliament. Suffering the greatest blow of all is the Liberal Party, who less than two years ago earned 13.6%.