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

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for the city's zoo, a Disneyland at Reykjavík Airport, palm trees on the waterfront and free towels at swimming pools. However the leader of the Best Party, comedian Jón Gnarr, 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 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 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 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, 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

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2010 elections in Europe May 2010 events in Europe