Pirates conquering the youth vote
Members of the Pirate Party. Photo: Styrmir Kári
Almost half of all Icelandic voters aged 18-29 intend to vote for the Pirate Party at the next general elections, according to a new opinion poll by MMR.
At the same time, most other parties currently represented in the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) fail to hit even double-figures support among young voters.
Even the Pirate Party’s nearest rival, the centre-right Independence Party garners just over 15% of youth-voter support – over thirty percentage points adrift of the Pirates’ figure.
Bjarni Benediktsson, leader of the Independence Party, must win back young voters. Photo: Eggert Jóhannesson
Support for the Independence Party among young voters is clearly in free-fall. 47% of 18-29-year-olds supported the party in 1999, 30% four years later, and 25% in 2009. The trend continues in this latest poll, with the Independence Party scoring just 15.5%.
The Pirates’ domination of the youth vote is also bad news for the other mainstream parties in Icelandic politics. Bright Future, the Left-Greens, the Social Democratic Alliance and the Progressive Party are all stuck in the 5-10% range.
MMR’s Ólaf Þór Gylfason states that a decisive factor in what happens in the 2017 general elections will be how effectively the Independence Party can win back young voters.
Support for the Pirates falls with increasing age but rises for the Independence Party. Source: MMR
