The Independence Party polls at 44 per cent in the Southwest District, up from 38.5 per cent in the parliamentary elections in 2003. The Left-Greens also gain, now at 10.1 per cent compared to 6.2 per cent in the last elections. The Social Democrats and the Liberals barely move polling 31.9 and 6.1 per cent compared to 32.8 and 6.7 per cent in the 2003 elections, respectively. The Progressives, however, slide from 14.9 to 7.9 per cent.
The Southwest District is comprised of several towns neighboring Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Mosfellsbær and Seltjarnarnes, and nearby rural areas. The voters number 49 thousand in last election, and they elected 9 MP’s directly, and 2 indirectly through so-called “equalization seats”. While geographically somewhat disjoint, many of the towns are populated by relatively affluent, youngish and educated suburbanites.
A similar trend was detected in the rural South District (28 thousand voters, 9 plus 1 MP’s). There the Independence Party moves from 29.2 to 38.7 per cent while the Progressive slide from 23.7 to 14.6 per cent. The Left Greens also gain several points and poll at 9.1 per cent, the Social Democrats hold their own more or less at 32.9 per cent, and the Liberals slide to 4.9 per cent.
The poll was made by Gallup for the daily Fréttablaðið. Results for other districts will be released over the next few days.
