Moderates lead, Social Democrats decline: poll

The Moderates claimed 32.5 percent in a Skop poll, up 2.4 percentage points since the September 19th election. The Social Democrats came in as the second largest party, with 31.3 percent of the vote, despite a 0.6 point climb since the election.

The Christian Democrats however halved their election result, polling 2.8 percentage points.

The polls, which were conducted between October 17th and November 8th, come at a time when both the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats are openly discussing the leadership of their respective parties.

Social Democrat youth organization SSU is the latest to question the leadership of Mona Sahlin, with several SSU board members calling for her to resign in order for the party to have a chance of renewal.

Sahlin herself this week called on the party’s executive board to resign and seek reelection, opening up the issue of the party leadership to discussion.

The Christian Democrat’s continued decline is sure to strengthen those calling Göran Hägglund’s leadership into question. Hägglund was roundly criticised recently for backing from one of the party’s key policies – a stay-at-home childcare allowance.

Both the Moderates and the Social Democrats declined somewhat in the Sifo poll for November, while the Moderates remained the largest party on 31.8 percent, the Social Democrats polled 28.5 percent.

The third largest party is the Green Party, on 8.5 percent with the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) close behind on 7.8.

The Sweden Democrats increased to 6.9 percent, ahead of the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats. The Left Party also increased, by 0.5 percentage points to 5.8 percent.

The Alliance government parties have a combined 48.8 percent, while the Red-Green opposition parties claimed 42.8 percent.