From Iceland — Mayor Race Takes Dramatic Turn

Mayor Race Takes Dramatic Turn

Published May 3, 2010

The results of the most recent Gallup poll show conservatives taking a painful hit, while Social Democrats, Leftist-Greens and The Best Party – a joke party created by comedian Jón Gnarr – all increase in support.
The poll, conducted between 12 and 29 April, shows that support for the Independence Party has dropped from 35% to 27%. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats come out on top, going up by two percentage points to 28%. The Leftist-Greens also saw a modest rise in support; up three percentage points to 16%.
The Progressives – who currently have one seat on city council – are set to lose that seat, as they currently only have the support of 4% of respondents. Supporters of Ólafur F. Magnússon – who used to be the in Liberal Party before becoming unaffiliated – weigh in at only 1%.
But the biggest upset of the poll is the performance of The Best Party. While a previous poll showed the parody party winning two seats – a feat in itself – new figures show them coming in at 24%; equivalent to four seats on city council.
Put altogether, if elections were held today, the conservatives would win four seats; the Social Dems, five; the Leftist-Greens, two; and the Best Party, four.
Current mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir attributed the hit her party has taken to the public discussion of the SIC report findings. Chairman of The Best Party Jón Gnarr told reporters he was happy with the results, but is still aiming to win a clean majority.

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