From Iceland — Everybody Loves Guðni

Everybody Loves Guðni

Published December 19, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Art Bicnick

President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson has seen his popularity skyrocket since September, to where pretty much everyone is pleased with the job he is doing.

According to a new poll from Stöð 2 and Fréttablaðið, 97% of respondents said they were satisfied with Guðni’s performance as president. The results are especially significant as he has had to preside over a very contentious series of parliamentary coalition talks. The highest level of discontent was found amongst respondents from the South Iceland district, and those who voted for the Party of the People in the previous elections, but these respondents still comprised a very small portion of the overall picture.

These results also show a significant upswing in support from last September.

As that time, a poll from Market and Media Research showed that 68.6% were satisfied with the job Guðni is doing. This is the highest the Office of the Presidency has ever polled in MMR’s polling history of the office, which first began in March 2011.

Levels of satisfaction were relatively the same across demographics such as age, gender, income level and education. The starkest contrasts appear when it comes to political party affiliation.

The highest level of satisfaction with Guðni’s job performance came from Social Democrat voters – 96% of them said they were either very pleased or quite pleased with the President. By contrast, the lowest rated level of satisfaction came from Progressive Party voters. Only 47.7% said they were either very pleased or quite pleased with the job Guðni is doing, but only 18% were dissatisfied.

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