Distrust In Coalition Leaders Grows

Public distrust grows and confidence shrinks for Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, a new poll from Market and Media Research shows. At the same time, only Pirate Party MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir experienced an increase in trust.

According to the poll, President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is the most trusted politician in the country, with 48.5% saying they trust him, while 29.2% said they did not. In terms of politicians belonging to political parties, Left-Green chairperson Katrín Jakóbsdóttir is the most trusted, at 46.7%, with 26.3% distrusting her.

Reykjavík mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson finished ahead of many parliamentarians, with 37% trusting him and 32.6% saying they distrusted him.

Pirate Party captain Birgitta Jónsdóttir not only had 32.3% trust versus 37.2% distrust – she is also the only politician included in the poll who experienced a trust increase from the previous poll, taken in June 2013. At that time, her trust level was at 23.3%.

At this point, the poll enters the realm of a wide margin of distrust versus trust. Bright Future MP Guðmundur Steingrímsson was only trusted by 24.9% of respondents, while 37.9% said they trusted him.

This is still more than the Finance Minister and Prime Minister can say: 22.8% said they trusted Bjarni Benediktsson, while 57.9% distrust him. At the same time, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson was only trusted by 17.5% of respondents, while 63.2% said they distrusted him. In addition, their levels of distrust grew while their levels of trust shrank since the poll previous.

Coming out with the least amount of trust overall was Social Democrat chairperson Árni Páll Árnason, at 14.9%. He can take heart, though, that at least his level of distrust – 53.6% – is still lower than that of the two men leading the ruling coalition.