New “Christian Right” Party In The Works

A new Icelandic political party is in the works that touts itself as conservative, Christian, and with a special emphasis on “defending Icelandic culture”. The group appears to be heavily influenced by far-right conservatism from abroad, but is still putting together their platform.

The party in question, Íhaldsflokkurinn (lit. “The Conservative Party”), encourages “we conservatives in Iceland” to develop “a new right-wing, conservative, political movement”. The Facebook group that seeks to establish Íhaldsflokkurinn is the brainchild of Hafþór “The Hammer” Gunnarsson, whose interests include Pegida, UKIP, the Tea Party, the fascist group Good Night Left Side, and Jeremy Clarkson.

While the party is still in its burgeoning stages, having achieved little more than posting a lot about Ronald Reagan, they are putting together a platform. Although as yet incomplete, the platform does include the following points:

“Icelandic law shall apply to all citizens and guests of the country. No special laws or exceptions due to religion or the cultures of immigrants.

…

Icelandic national culture shall be protected and the flag of the republic shall be flown publicly in schools and public institutions. Icelandic culture is built on Christian values and so shall the government support and protect the National Church

…

Immigrants shall learn Icelandic, learn Icelandic culture, and take part in the building of society. The arrival of asylum seekers shall be limited as much as possible, and it shall be ensured that they do not arrive as ‘economic refugees’.”

The party also wants Iceland to resign from Schengen, but remain a part of NATO. The Facebook group’s members, all 160 of them, include (apart from journalists) many notable Icelandic conservatives, amongst them Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson, Gylfi Ægisson, and Gústaf Níelsson.

Correction: In an email sent to us on January 12, 2021, Hannes Hólmsteinn expressly says he is not and has never been a part of this group. As the Facebook group no longer exists, the Grapevine cannot confirm this, but has opted to err on the side of caution and note what Hannes has informed us of.