Vísir reports that CLARA, a start-up company developing software, used a program to compare the wishes and themes brought up at the National Assembly with the speeches made by members of parliament and ministers.
According to their results, Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is most in touch with the people, as the themes brought up in his speeches were most similar to the themes raised by the attendees of the National Assembly. He was followed by Progressive MP Birkir Jón Jónsson, Movement MP Þór Saari, Conservative MP Illugi Gunnarsson, and Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Least in touch with the people, though, is Minister of Transportation Kristján Möller.
By party, however, the Civic Movement is most in touch with the people, followed by the Conservatives, the Progressives, the Leftist-Greens, and then the Social Democrats.
It should be noted that parliamentary rules give ministers, ruling coalition MPs and opposition MPs differently sized windows of time to be able to speak, with some MPs choosing not to speak very often, while others often speak over the limit. How much an MP speaks does not necessarily reflect how much work they do on behalf of the people, nor harmonious their work is with the people’s wishes.