Satisfaction With President Reaches Record High

Nearly 82% of Icelanders are pleased with the job President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson has been doing, according to a new poll from Market and Media Research (MMR). This is not only the highest approval rating he has ranked with MMR thus far; it is the highest any president has ranked in MMR’s history.

RÚV reports that this new poll shows his approval ratings are only increasing. In an MMR poll taken last September, his approval rating was at 68.6%.

There was some discrepancy amongst different voters in terms of how pleased they were with Guðni’s work. About or over 90% of voters for the Left-Greens, the Social Democrats, the Pirate Party and Bright Future support him, with Reform Party voters following close behind. 72% of Independence Party voters and 66% of Progressive Party voters were also pleased with the work Guðni is doing.

The demographic that was the least satisfied with how Guðni is doing were older, richer Progressive Party voting men, although even in their case, only about 10% expressed dissatisfaction.

A poll from Stöð 2 and Fréttablaðið taken last December showed that 97% of respondents 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.