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Pirate Party surges in polls to become biggest political party in Iceland

Results come as the ruling Independence party slips into a close second place

Sunday 03 May 2015 12:59 BST

The Pirate Party is now the biggest in Iceland according to Icelandic researchers MMR (Andreas Rentz/ Getty)

Iceland is in the grips of piracy, albeit the Pirate Party who have managed to become the biggest political party in the country, after local polling showed public support in overwhelming numbers.

The Party, which has sprung up in over 60 countries, campaigns for internet and data freedom. It now has a 23.9 per cent share of the vote, up from 12.8 per cent in February.

By comparison the poll, conducted Icelandic market research company MMR, showed that the country’s ruling Independence Party had slipped from 25.5 per cent to 23.4 per cent.

Over the past month the party has seen its membership soar, according to recent polling, and would win 16 seats in Iceland’s Parliament in the event of an election.

Pirate Party leader in Iceland Birgitta Jonsdottir says that they were thankful for the people's support (AFP/ Getty)

In 2013, the Pirates won three parliamentary seats in Iceland’s election and have also been using their seats in the European Parliament to bring pressure on the European Union to overhaul copyright laws.

The party’s leader, Birgitta Jonsdottir, was previously a member of Iceland’s Parliament for the Citizen’s Movement, a party that formed in the wake of the Iceland’s financial crisis.

Ms Jonsdottir said: “To be completely honest, I don’t know why we enjoy so much trust, we are all just as surprised, thankful and take this as a sign of mistrust towards conventional politics.

The Icelandic branch of the party is currently enjoying unprecedented support, although the Pirates have strong movements in the United States and Germany. In the UK, the Pirate Party received 1,348 votes in the 2010 general election.

“Traditional politics have not shown progress and people are tired of waiting for change. It is good that people are rejecting corruption and hubris.”

Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, a Member of Parliament for the Pirate Party, added that he was at a loss to explain the results of the poll.

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Show all 10

1/10In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Andrew Hawkins (ComRes)

“The sclerotic, negative and risk-averse campaigns from the two main parties make it hard to see how much can alter. So, my prediction is the same – Tories get most votes, but Labour better placed to form a government. Then a long spell of political and perhaps constitutional chaos.”

Andrew Hawkins

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Joe Twyman (YouGov)

“‘The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.’ So begins the film version of Lord of the Rings. – which is, of course, the famous tale of an epic journey culminating in the final battle between good and evil. The world of British politics has certainly changed. “With a few days still to go I expect that more change could still occur, but it is likely to be minor and the national level and more concentrated on the ground in the key marginal constituencies where the Hold Your Nose or Cut It Off to Spite Your Face™ message pushes home. I expect the Conservatives to be the beneficiaries, but it will not be anything like enough to make a difference to the overall result.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Ben Page (Ipsos MORI)

“As the only pollster to correctly predict a hung parliament last time – and then foolishly change my prediction when I saw ALL the others were saying a Conservative majority – I am going to say hung parliament again. With more Conservative than Labour seats. The SNP won’t wipe out the Labour Party completely in Scotland but will get them down to single figures. The Lib Dems will out perform their poll numbers and should get circa 26 seats – or more. Ukip will be delighted with four seats at most, probably fewer.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Rick Nye (Populus)

“Tories largest party, comfortably.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Nick Moon (GfK)

“SNP now 50, Ukip 2; Tories to be largest party in votes and seats, but still a Labour minority government.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Damian Lyons Lowe (Survation)

“Conservatives – I’m upgrading my seats prediction to 270-280 from 260-280. Labour – downgrading again to 265-275, based on the SNPs’ continued surge and Conservatives doing better in our seat-voting question as the election draws near and views are localised: SNP 45; Lib Dems 30; Ukip 6; Green 1; Respect 1. Ed Miliband will be the next prime minister.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Michelle Harrison (TNS)

“We enter the last few days of this campaign pretty much where we started. This election represents what happens when a country is not confident about its economic future, unsure of its place in the world, and fed up with the state of its politics. “The political stalemate at the centre, and the fragmentation of the traditional party system, has left us with a set of polls incapable of telling what will ultimately happen, when there are so many potential scenarios. What we can feel confident about though is that Thursday will be a seismic night for politics in Scotland. When the votes are counted, we expect the Tories to be the largest party, but that Labour should still have the greatest chance of forming a government. But how do we measure the advantage for the Conservatives of already being in No 10 in the days after the general election? The real drama will start on Friday.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

James Endersby (Opinium Research)

“We saw some movement to the Tories, but the two big parties are back to being neck and neck with the Conservatives a hair’s breadth ahead. How this translates into seats or a coalition is unclear but based on our numbers we’d put the Conservatives ahead of Labour on vote share but the two parties within 10 seats of each other in the new House of Commons. The maths here gives Ed Miliband more options than David Cameron, so it might be sensible for voters to look up Ramsay MacDonald when trying to make sense of the result!”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Martin Boon (ICM)

“The Tories appear to have developed a little momentum, which may or may not make any difference. I sense the now traditional herding of pollsters has begun, and the polls will coalesce around a Tory lead of between two and six points. I’ll guess at 36 per cent for the Tories and 32 per cent for Labour. The fight for third place could go either way. Beyond that I just don’t know what will happen and defer to the academics and gamblers when it comes to seat projections, and indeed when it comes to who on earth is going to form our next government. I’d like to apologise to Independent on Sunday readers for fence-sitting, but as I’ve said repeatedly of late: How should I know? I’m only a pollster.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Lord Ashcroft (Lord Ashcroft Polls)

He refuses to make predictions. “My polls are snapshots, not predictions.”

Rex

“I’m happy to see such a reception, but… firstly, it’s not self-evident that this will be the result of the elections and not self-evident that this will go on,” he said. “It’s important not to become arrogant of this.”

Mr Gunnarsson added: “People are starting to realise that the whole system is corrupt, not just a few politicians. They don’t trust it at all. I think they appreciate it when someone points this out.”

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