President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is the most trusted political figure in Iceland, a new poll shows, with public confidence in him more than doubling over the past three years.
According to a new poll (.pdf file) from Market and Media Research which measured levels of trust respondents have in different politicians, 50.2% said they trusted the president the most, while 28.5% said they trust him little. This is not only more than any other Icelandic political figure ranked; it is also up from 22.9% in 2009, when details of the Special Investigative Commission report said the president often acted as a promoter for the Icelandic “outvasion Viking” venture capitalists.
The most trusted member of parliament is Lilja Mósesdóttir, a former Leftist-Green who has started her own political party, Solidarity. 28.5% of respondents said they trust her a great deal, but 37.9% trust her only a little.
In fact, every other politician included in the poll besides the president has higher levels of mistrust than trust. For example, while Leftist-Green chairman Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is the third most trusted politician in the country, with 19.8% expressing confidence in him, 61.4% trust him very little. The prime minister has the trust of 17.4% of respondents, while 63.9% said they mistrusted her.
Despite this low showing, it still puts the ruling coalition slightly ahead of the opposition. Progressive Party chairman Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson has the trust of 17.1% of respondents, Independence Party chairman Bjarni Benediktsson has the trust of 15.9%, and MP for The Movement Þór Saari has the trust of 15%. All of them still had much higher levels of mistrust than trust.
Mayor Jón Gnarr fared better than the parliamentary opposition and the prime minister, with 18.6% saying they trusted him a great deal, while 63.7% trust him little.
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