Yle poll: Finnish governing parties gain support as SDP declines

By admin On Mar 10, 2025

SDP Chair Antti Lindtman at the Parliament’s plenary session in Helsinki on 28 February 2025. LEHTIKUVA

Finland’s governing parties have increased their support, while the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) has suffered a decline, according to Yle’s latest parliamentary poll.

Despite the drop, SDP remains the most popular party with 22.8% backing. However, support for the party fell by 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous poll.

The National Coalition Party (NCP), the leading government party, maintained its 20% support, keeping the gap between the two largest parties at nearly three percentage points.

The Finns Party, another coalition member, saw a slight increase of 0.4 percentage points, reaching 15.4%. Political scientist Johanna Vuorelma from the University of Helsinki noted that the party continues to struggle with the pressures of being in government.

Centre Party sees highest support since 2019

The Centre Party’s upward trend continued, reaching 13.7%, its highest level in five years. Vuorelma linked the rise to the debate over healthcare service cuts and the upcoming municipal and regional elections.

Meanwhile, opposition parties saw declines. The Left Alliance and the Greens both lost 0.7 percentage points, now standing at 8.5% and 7.8%, respectively. Vuorelma suggested their struggles are due to the current political focus on security and economic issues rather than climate policy.

Christian Democrats make biggest gains

Among the governing coalition parties, the Christian Democrats recorded the largest increase, rising 1.7 percentage points to 4.7%. The Swedish People’s Party also gained slightly, reaching 3.9%.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s (NCP) government now holds a combined 44% support, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous poll. However, this remains significantly lower than past administrations at the same stage in their term.

The current government’s support is ten percentage points lower than that of former Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s (SDP) government at a similar point in its term. Orpo’s government is also trailing the support levels seen under Juha Sipilä’s (Cen) centre-right government.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi