Here's how Swedes would vote if an election were held today
Sweden's governing Social Democrats have seen a statistically significant fall in support this year, according to a major party sympathy survey published on Wednesday.
The survey, published by Statistics Sweden, shows that if Swedes went to the polls today the centre-left Social Democrats would get 29.4 percent of the vote. That's down by 4.3 points from the last such survey in May, but still up on the last election when they received 28.3 percent, the party's worst result in over a century.
The high grade in May was interpreted as a sign of public support for the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, while recent opinion polls have shown a dip in confidence as the number of cases and deaths rises in Sweden.
Their junior coalition partner, the Green Party, remained relatively steady on 4.2 percent, which keeps it above the 4 percent needed for parliamentary representation.
Meanwhile, the right-of-centre Moderate Party would get 22.1 percent of the vote, 2 points more than in May. The party secretary, Gunnar Strömmer, said that the likely reasons for their gains were a focus on problems like crime and unemployment as well as dissatisfaction with the government.
"The government seems to be busy blaming everyone else. If it is not the municipalities' fault, then it is the regions' fault, if it is not the regions' fault, then it is the authorities' fault and if it is not the authorities' fault, it is the Swedish administrative model's fault," Strömmer told the TT newswire.
The centre-right Centre and Liberal parties received 7.6 and 3 percent respectively, putting the Liberals below the parliamentary threshold. These parties were previously part of a coalition with the Moderates and Christian Democrats, but since the last election have struck a deal with the Social Democrats and Greens to allow them to govern in exchange for certain policy points.
The Christian Democrats were at 5.4 percent in the November survey, down by 1 point from May. As for the right-wing Sweden Democrats, they were up just 0.5 points from May, at 17.6 percent. And the Left Party was at 9.3 percent, up by 1.1 points from May.
Sweden's next general election will be held in September 2022.
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The survey, published by Statistics Sweden, shows that if Swedes went to the polls today the centre-left Social Democrats would get 29.4 percent of the vote. That's down by 4.3 points from the last such survey in May, but still up on the last election when they received 28.3 percent, the party's worst result in over a century.
The high grade in May was interpreted as a sign of public support for the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, while recent opinion polls have shown a dip in confidence as the number of cases and deaths rises in Sweden.
Their junior coalition partner, the Green Party, remained relatively steady on 4.2 percent, which keeps it above the 4 percent needed for parliamentary representation.
Meanwhile, the right-of-centre Moderate Party would get 22.1 percent of the vote, 2 points more than in May. The party secretary, Gunnar Strömmer, said that the likely reasons for their gains were a focus on problems like crime and unemployment as well as dissatisfaction with the government.
"The government seems to be busy blaming everyone else. If it is not the municipalities' fault, then it is the regions' fault, if it is not the regions' fault, then it is the authorities' fault and if it is not the authorities' fault, it is the Swedish administrative model's fault," Strömmer told the TT newswire.
The centre-right Centre and Liberal parties received 7.6 and 3 percent respectively, putting the Liberals below the parliamentary threshold. These parties were previously part of a coalition with the Moderates and Christian Democrats, but since the last election have struck a deal with the Social Democrats and Greens to allow them to govern in exchange for certain policy points.
The Christian Democrats were at 5.4 percent in the November survey, down by 1 point from May. As for the right-wing Sweden Democrats, they were up just 0.5 points from May, at 17.6 percent. And the Left Party was at 9.3 percent, up by 1.1 points from May.
Sweden's next general election will be held in September 2022.
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