A new political era has dawned in Reykjavík. The sometimes controversial, yet overwhelmingly popular Best Party (Besti flokkurinn), headed by comedian Jón Gnarr of the Næturvaktin TV series, won majority support in the local mayoral elections with 34.7% of the vote. The next highest percentage went to the Independence Party, one of the traditional “big four”, at 33.6%.

The six-month old party’s policies include a clean city, a Disneyland theme park near the airport and a new polar bear for the local zoo. We posted their campaign video last week, which is set to the tune of Tina Turner’s “Simply The Best”.

The party has wasted no time and got straight into discussions with the Social Democratic Alliance on the formation of a new majority for Reykjavík. According to Óttarr Proppé, councillor for The Best Party, a plan for meetings over the next few days was made a priority.

Óttarr says, “The Best Party is new to all of this, so it will just take us a bit longer to work our way through, we’re not accustomed to it. It is clear from all angles that we’re not going to put ourselves through any stress.”

When the conversation turned to the topic of party leader Jón Gnarr, Óttarr mentioned that he had not taken part in the morning’s meetings, and had instead got himself a well-deserved good night’s sleep, spent time with his family and gone to the coffee shop.

Source: BBC News, mbl.is
Image: hugi.is

Labels: Politics