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The Pirate Party the biggest in Iceland by far

By Bjarki Ármannsson
The Icelandic Pirate Party's three members of parliament: Jón Þór Ólafsson (far left), Birgitta Jónsdóttir and Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson.
The Icelandic Pirate Party's three members of parliament: Jón Þór Ólafsson (far left), Birgitta Jónsdóttir and Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson. Vísir/Vilhelm
The latest national polls in Iceland show an unprecedented 30,1 per cent support for The Icelandic Pirate Party. It is now the biggest party in Iceland by far, with the ruling Independence Party coming in second with 22,9 per cent.

The party has come a long way since the 2013 general elections, when it wasn‘t clear if even a single party member would make it to parliament. Eventually they managed three: Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson and Jón Þór Ólafsson.

It‘s fair to say that the three of them have promted a major turnaround in Icelandic politics. Support for the Pirate Party has doubled in the last two months, seemingly in part because of the general public‘s growing discontent towards their current government.

The two ruling parties – traditional political powerhouses The Independence Party with 22,9 per cent support and The Progressive Party with 10,1 per cent – combined manage just slighty more support than The Pirate Party. The Pirates themselves see this as a call for significant change.

"People are starting to realise that the whole system is corrupt, not just a few politicians," Gunnarsson told Vísir in March. "They don‘t trust it at all. I think they appreciate it when someone points this out."


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