From Iceland — New Parties Show Promising Levels Of Support

New Parties Show Promising Levels Of Support

Published May 31, 2012

Two of Iceland’s newest political parties are still polling strong enough to gain seats in parliament, but the conservatives still lead the pack.
According to a new poll conducted by Fréttablaðið, if elections were held today the Independence Party would receive 44% of the vote, making it the largest party in the country. This is also up two points from the month previous.
Progressives are polling about the same as last month, at about 16%. Be that as it may, they are still faring better than the party leading the government – the Social Democrats – who are now at 13.6%, having lost more than half their support since the 2009 elections. Their partners in the ruling coalition – the Leftist-Greens – came in at 9%, and so would lose half their seats in parliament if elections were held today.
Most interestingly, two of Iceland’s newest political parties – Bright Future, a sister party of the Best Party, and Solidarity – are both polling strong enough now to each be able to secure three seats in parliament.
In other words, if elections were held today, the most likely ruling coalition would be the Independence Party and the Progressives – the same coalition that ruled Iceland for many years prior to 2007.

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