A poll conducted by MMR asked respondants who they believe could be
considered Iceland’s unifying symbol – and the responses were
surprising.
A whole 72.1% said that they could not think of anyone. Of the remaining 27.9% who responded, 4.5% named former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Davíð Oddsson – who at the end of his political carreer was the Central Bank chairman, and was for all intents and purposes fired from the position – came in second place, with 3.8%.
2% of respondants named eithe Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon or Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Progressive Party chairman Sigmundur Davíð
Gunnlaugsson was chosen by 1% of respondants, as was current Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Other people who were mentioned scored less than 1%.
MMR emphasized that respondants might not support or agree with the people they chose; they were simply naming which individuals they believed could be a unifying symbol for Iceland.