The only big change in Icelandic politics after the economic crash in 2008 was that voters in the capital, Reykjavík, decided that instead of going for fascism or extreme left-wingers, they’d vote in a Mayor who had only run for the office as a joke. After his resounding victory comedian Jón Gnarr stepped up to the plate and actually did a decent job. He decided not to run for re-election and retired with high approval ratings.
The country is stirring again. Since December last year a political party that barely managed to reach the minimum 5% needed to get a member of parliament elected has rocketed up in the polls. The percentage of people who say they’d vote for the Pirates has gone from under 10% in most of 2014 soaring up by 25% in the first half of 2015 to just under 35% putting them more than 10% ahead of the second most popular party, the conservative Independence party who are in a coalition government with the ironically named Progressive party.
The funny thing about the pirates is that they strike you as an honest group of internet savvy people who don’t even have much of a craving for any power. In that sense they’re like the outgoing mayor and that’s a big part of their appeal. Also, seen from here in London, they seem to be the only party in opposition that says what they actually think rather than what they think people want to hear. Like 35% of the country I will be very much tempted to vote for them when the election comes around. It’s just a shame that we still have two years to go.