Politics

New poll shows support for Pirates continues to soar, just over a third supports governing parties

By Staff

Embattled PM Sigmundur If elections were held today Davíð Gunnlaugsson's centre-right Progressive Party woud receve only half of the votes it received in 2013. Photo/Daníel Rúnarsson

A new Gallup poll shows that the Pirate party is still by far the most popular political party in Iceland. 36.1% of those polled said they would vote for the Pirate party if elections were held today, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reports. This is the highest level of support registered for the party in any previous Gallup poll.

The governing central-right Progressive Party, led by embattled PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, and the conservative Independence party continue to poll with far less support than they received in the 2013 elections. The poll found that the Independence party enjoys the support of 23.2% of voters and the Progressive party is supported by 12.1%. The combined support of the two parties, 35.3 is less than that of the Pirate party.

Read more: A no-confidence motion looms as thousands demand PM resign over ties to tax-havens

The poll was conducted on February 25 – March 30. It unlikely the poll therefore fully reflects the fallout from the controversy surrounding the revelations that the Prime Minister and two government ministers from the Conservative Party, including party chairman and Minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktosson, have ties to off-shore companies located in notorious tax-havens.