The Social Democrat leader saw both his own and his party’s popularity take a hit among voters, dropping from 35 percent before the media storm, to its current 26.9, according to the latest figures from market research company Sifo.

A separate survey on Saturday revealed that the gap between Juholt and Fredrik Reinfeldt is at its widest margin yet, with the prime minister enjoying a 68-15 lead in a poll which asked voters who they trusted most to lead the country.

“I have been through ten days of facts, lies, rumours and war like headlines with very harsh prejudicial condemnation. Clearly, it affects people’s attitudes,” said Juholt to Göteborgs-Posten, but he added that he is still confident he can win back the trust of voters once the dust has settled.

Meanwhile, another poll during the past seven days, again by Sifo, shows the popularity rating of the party slipping even further, to 25.5 percent in recent days.

The figures suggest that those voters deserting his party seem to be shifting their allegiance to his main rival.

Over the same three week period, the Moderates have seen their stock rise from 28.2 percent the first week, to 34.8 percent last week, which is almost as good as their highest rating in government, of 35.3 percent in November 1997.

“Compared to before the crisis, several voters have gone to the Moderates. There is a clear migration from the Social Democrats to the Moderates,” Toivo Sjores, manager of Sifo’s surveys, told Svenska Dagbladet.