Many Icelanders Would Consider Voting For “Pro-EU Right Wing” Party

About 40% of Icelanders said they would consider voting for a (currently non-existent) pro-EU conservative party.

The poll, from Market and Media Research, asked respondents if they would consider voting for “a new right-wing party which had the support of former Independence Party chairperson Þorsteinn Pálsson”. Of those who responded, 38.1% said they would consider voting for such a party.

Taken by party affiliation, the results get more interesting. 48.7% of Independence Party voters said they would consider voting for a pro-EU right, as did 35.9% of Progressives.

At the moment, the Independence Party is arguably the only conservative party in parliament. Their coalition partners, the Progressives, are centrist. Both parties are against joining the EU. A new conservative party with this degree of support could spell trouble for the Independence Party.

Þorsteinn, apart from his political history, has for a long time supported Iceland joining the EU, and called the government’s recent decision to end accession talks “one of the biggest betrayals in the history of Icelandic politics.”