Best Party Besti flokkurinn | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Jón Gnarr |
Vice-chairperson | Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir |
Founder | Jón Gnarr |
Founded | 16 November 2009 |
Dissolved | 16 June 2014 |
Headquarters | Laugavegur 40a, Reykjavík |
National affiliation | Bright Future (2014) |
International affiliation | Pirate Parties International (observer) |
Colours | Blue / Pink |
The Best Party (Icelandic: Besti flokkurinn) was an Icelandic political party founded by Jón Gnarr on 16 November 2009.[1] The party contested the 2010 city council election in Reykjavík and won a plurality on the Reykjavík City Council, receiving 34.7% of the vote, defeating the Independence Party which received 33.6%.[2][3][4] It was an observer member of the International Pirate Party, but not associated with the Pirate Party Iceland.[5] Gnarr announced that the party was to be dissolved after he stepped down as mayor after the upcoming local elections in May 2014. Many of the Best Party's members joined Bright Future, although Gnarr himself stopped political participation.
The founder and chairman of the party was the former Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr.[6] The party was founded several months after the Icelandic parliamentary election in 2009, and was closely related to the national Bright Future party, led by MP and Best Party Vice President Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir.
The party's initial success is seen as a backlash against establishment parties in the wake of Iceland's 2008–2011 financial crisis.[7]