The Icelandic municipal elections of 2010 were held on 29 May in that year to elect the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

s of Iceland.

Results

Reykjavík

A new political party called The Best Party (Besti flokkurinn) won the most seats on the council, defeating the established parties.

Campaign

The Best Party led in the polls in the run up to the election with one survey showing they could win a majority on their own. Among the policies in the party's "best manifesto" were plans for a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

for the city's zoo, a

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: ''Reykjavíkurflugvöllur'') is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, located about from the city centre. Having shorter runways than the city's larger international airport Kef ...

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

s on the waterfront and free towels at swimming pools. However the leader of the Best Party, comedian

Jón Gnarr Jón Gnarr (; born 2 January 1967)This is an Icelandic name. ''Kristinsson'' is the patronymic, but he is properly referred to as ''Jón Gnarr'' as he had it legally removed. is an Icelandic actor, comedian, and politician who served as the Ma ...

, said that his party, which had only been founded in November 2009, was serious and his campaign manager said they wanted "to take a stand against a system that is completely ruined". Political analysts saw the strong support for the Best Party being due to the

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...

that had taken place since 2008, which had led voters to lose confidence in the traditional political parties. Meanwhile, other politicians called on voters to get serious and avoid putting the city in the "hands of clowns" during a time of economic difficulty. As the election neared a poll showed the Best Party dropped slightly while remaining ahead, with the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

rising, making it unlikely that the Best Party would win a majority.

Results

The results saw the Best Party become the largest party on the council with 6 of the 15 seats, but short of a majority. They defeated the Independence Party of

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

mayor

Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir (born 12 October 1966) is a former Icelandic minister, mayor and parliamentarian. She is currently the chair of the Executive Board of Women Political Leaders, Global Forum.womenpoliticalleaders.org Before that, ...

into second place with 33.6% of the vote, compared to 34.7% for the Best Party. The results were described as "a shock" by the Icelandic

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013. She became active in the trade union movement, serving as an officer. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013, ...

, with the leader of the Best Party, Jón Gnarr saying he should now become mayor of Reykjavík. Gnarr has since formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and was mayor until June 16, 2014.

References

{{Icelandic elections 2010 in Iceland

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2010 elections in Europe May 2010 events in Europe