Poll Decidedly Grim For Interior Minister, Government

A new poll from Fréttablaðið and Stöð 2 shows about two-thirds of respondents want Interior Minister Hanna Banna Kristjánsdóttir to resign, and trust in her – as well as the government in general – is remarkably low.

According to the poll, Vísir reports, which asked respondents if they believe Hanna Birna should resign, 67% of those who had an opinion said they believe she should. When the answers are taken as a whole, 21% were undecided, 26% said she should not resign, and 53% said she should resign.

Taken by party affiliation, 45% of Independence Party voters (the party from which Hanna Birna hails); 51% of Progressives; 86% of Bright Future voters; 83% of Social Democrats; 88% of Left-Greens and 90% of Pirates all believe Hanna Birna should resign.

“It doesn’t surprise me that opponents of the government and the Independence Party believe I should be doing something other than working in politics,” she told reporters. “The past few days have been very difficult, the discussion fierce, and I think this [poll] reflects this.”

Another aspect of the poll asked respondents to indicate their trust or mistrust in different government ministers. Vísir reports that the results do not look good for the government as a whole, nor for Hanna Birna in particular.

Of those who responded, the minister with the most trust was Minister of Finance Bjarni Benediktsson – at 11%. 21% said they did not trust any of them, and 37% were undecided.

When asked which government minister they trusted the least, about 25% of respondents named Hanna Birna, making her the least trusted of the bunch. Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson followed, at 15%, and Bjarni came in at 8%. 35% were undecided.

“I can’t remember a poorer statement of trust to government ministers than what has been brought to light here,” political scientist Stefanía Óskarsdóttir told reporters. “This is a warning light to politicians that they cannot take public trust for granted, and it’s a fragile egg they hold.”