Local poling has revealed that the Icelandic Pirate Party is now the country’s biggest political party after a further surge in its popularity.
The party, which is a feature in more than 60 other countries, supports internet and data freedom.
In February, polls showed that 12.8 per cent of Icelanders supported it, and that number has now shot up to 23.9 per cent. In comparison, a recent poll by market research company MMR revealed that the ruling Independence Party had fallen from 25.5 per cent to 23.4 per cent over the same period.
During the past few weeks, the Pirate Party’s membership has also increased, with recent polling suggesting it would claim 16 seats in Parliament if an election was carried out at present.
In 2013, the party won three seats in Iceland’s parliamentary elections and they have also been using their European Parliament seats to pressurise the European Union into changing copyright laws.
Party leader Birgitta Jonsdottir admitted that she was unsure why they had gained so many citizens’ trust, saying that they were thankful and surprised, and believed it could be down to people’s mistrust of “conventional politics”.
She went on to say that traditional politics were not progressing and that many were tired of simply waiting for change, adding that it was good people were rejecting corruption and hubris.
The Pirate Party in Iceland is enjoying unprecedented support, but the Pirates are also extremely popular in Germany and the US.