Gallup: Centre Dips, Socialists Rise In Support

A new poll from Gallup shows some interesting changes from their previous poll taken the month prior.

Just over 9,000 people were reached out to in this poll, taken from February 1 to 28, with about 52.5% participating. Respondents were asked what party they would vote for if elections were held today. Undecideds from that group were asked what party they believed they would likely vote for. Undecideds from that group were asked if they considered it more likely that they would vote for the Independence Party or another party.

According to the results, the Independence Party has the largest level of support, at 23%, unchanged from the previous Gallup poll. The Left-Greens, who lead the coalition with the Independence Party and the Progressive Party, is also holding steady, at 13%. The Progressives saw a slight increase by 1%, and are now at 10%.

Two parties saw measurable losses: the Social Democrats and the Reform Party, both of which lost three percentage points between polls, and are now at 14% and 9%, respectively.

The Pirate Party went up a percentage, to 12%, while the Centre Party lost a point, and is now at 7%. The People’s Party is still at 4%, and as such would not win a seat in Parliament if elections were held today.

The Socialist Party—which does not yet have a seat in Parliament but does have a seat in Reykjavík City Council—went from 3.8% to 5.8% between polls, and would make it into Parliament if elections were held today.

While combined support for the individual parties in the ruling coalition is at 46%, some 59% said they support the coalition as a whole, down by about 2% from the last poll.

To learn more about who these parties are and what they stand for, refer to our handy guide to Iceland’s political parties.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.