The cheeky new "Best Party" headed by a comedian won Reykjavik city polls, results showed yesterday, highlighting discontent with politicians blamed for wrecking Iceland's economy. The party - whose leader campaigned on free towels in all city swimming pools, a polar bear for the zoo and cleaning up politics - took 34.7 per cent of Saturday's vote in a shock defeat for traditional political parties.

"I have never seen anything like this," Olafur Hardarsson, a political science professor at the University of Iceland, told public broadcaster RUV.

"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," Mr Hardarsson said. The victory makes "Best Party" leader Jon Gnarr, one of Iceland's top comedians, mayor of the capital and gives it six city council seats, two short of a majority.

Mr Gnarr said he had not yet decided who to work with on the new council.

"The ball's in our court, I'm just going to have a good look at it and contemplate it and then do something beautiful with it," he told RUV.