Antti Lindtman, the chairperson of the Social Democrats, posed for a photo alongside his counterparts from the Finns Party and National Coalition, Riikka Purra and Petteri Orpo, ahead of a European election debate held by YLE in Helsinki on Wednesday, 22 May 2024. The Social Democratic Party has increased its popularity especially among female voters, reveals an opinion poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY has cemented its status as the most popular political party in Finland, reveals the latest opinion poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat.
Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday reported that popular support for the largest opposition party has risen by 1.1 percentage points to 22.7 per cent since mid-April, providing it an almost three-point cushion at the top of the poll ahead of the National Coalition.
The polling data indicate that the party has increased its popularity particularly among women, along with maintaining its status as the most popular party among over 65-year-olds.
The Social Democratic Party has not performed as well in the poll since January 2016. The political circumstances at the time were similar to the current ones, as the country was led by a right-leaning coalition government made up of the Centre, Finns Party and National Coalition.
Support for the National Coalition stood at 19.9 per cent for the second consecutive month.
The Finns Party, however, continued its nosedive in the poll, falling 1.6 points to 16.2 per cent as a growing number of its supporters withdrew to the sidelines. In February, the populist right-wing party was the preferred choice of 19.6 per cent of the poll respondents.
The poll was carried out by Verian between 15 April and 17 May. The polling period coincided with a framework session where the government reached an agreement on significant additional fiscal adjustments with ramifications to the daily lives of many voters, including pensioners, as well as a shooting incident involving a now ex-member of the Finns Party, Timo Vornanen.
The Centre saw its approval rating improve by 0.8 points to 12.1 per cent, whereas the Left Alliance and Green League saw their ratings slip by 0.3 points, to 9.3 and 7.8 per cent, respectively. Both the Christian Democrats and Movement Now registered marginal gains, the former climbing from 4.1 to 4.2 per cent and the latter from 2.0 to 2.2 per cent.
Support for the Swedish People’s Party fell by 0.4 points to 3.4 per cent. The ruling coalition thereby has the support of 43.7 per cent of the public.
A total of 2,484 people were interviewed for the poll, resulting in a margin of error of around two percentage points.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
