Comedy news: Icelandic comedian Jon Gnarr's Best Party wins Reykjavik election

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A satirical political party set up by Icelandic comedian Jon Gnarr has been elected onto Reykjavik’s city council.

The Best Party, which was founded in reaction to the fallout from Iceland’s financial crisis received 34.7 per cent of votes on Sunday’s election to win 15 seats and a majority on the council of the country’s capital.

The Best Party had campaigned on a programme of free towels at all hot springs and a new polar bear for Reykjavik’s Zoo and used Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’ as their campaign backing track. Best Party leader Gnarr is now laying claim to the title of Major for the city.

“We can promise more than the others, because we will in no way keep these promises,' Gnarr said. "Nobody needs to be frightened of the Best Party because it's the best. And we only want what is best -- if we didn't, we'd be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party."

The news comes as a shock to Iceland’s government and has widely been seen as a reaction to the debt burden which has befallen the country since the banking crisis.

University of Iceland political science Prof. Olafur Hardarsson said "I have never seen anything like this.

"I think we have to see these elections as the public's general expression of discontent with politicians, the political parties and the political circumstances we've had recently."