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New survey: Here’s how Swedes would vote if an election were held today

A new political survey shows a boost for the Christian Democrats at the expense of Sweden's other right-wing parties.

Published: 4 June 2019 15:44 CEST
New survey: Here's how Swedes would vote if an election were held today
The leader of the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch-Thor. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

The Christian Democrats improved their result the most in Statistics Sweden's major party sympathy survey, climbing 6.7 percentage points since Sweden's general election in September – and a whopping 10.1 percentage points compared to the same survey a year ago.

This would put the party at 13 percent of the vote if an election were held today, a significant share for what is normally one of the smaller right-wing parties in parliament.

The charisma of party leader Ebba Busch-Thor and her uncompromising stance on a number of issues appear to have won the party support. However, the party performed worse than expected in last month's European election, with 8.62 percent of the vote, after questions were raised over its views on abortion.

EUROPEAN ELECTION:

The Christian Democrats' gains in the new Statistics Sweden survey primarily came from former supporters of the Moderates – long seen as the leader of Sweden's centre-right bloc – and the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

Sweden's ruling centre-left party, the Social Democrats, were the winners of Statistics Sweden's party sympathy poll with 27.6 percent of respondents saying they would vote for them if an election were to be held today.


The new survey compared to the parties' results in the last Swedish parliamentary election. From left, Centre Party, Liberals, Moderates, Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens and Sweden Democrats. Photo: Statistics Sweden

The Sweden Democrats remained at more or less the same score as in September, but still overtook the Moderate Party, which dropped from 19.8 percent in the election to 16 percent today.

Sweden's 2018 election – followed by a long period without a government and tough negotiations – began a redrawing of the country's political map, and it is still not clear where the chips will ultimately fall.

The Centre Party and the Liberals' legislative pact with the Green Party and Social Democrats solved the government negotiation conflict, but infuriated its old Moderate and Christian Democrat partners.

READ ALSO: What does Sweden's government deal mean for internationals?

As for the Sweden Democrats, they have made no secret of the fact that they would like to be seen as part of a new conservative bloc with the Moderates and Christian Democrats. Such a bloc would get 46.1 percent of the vote if an election were held today, according to Statistics Sweden.

For the party sympathy survey, pollsters asked a total of 4,500 respondents in May which party they would vote for if a parliamentary election were to be held in the next few days.

Sweden's next general election will be held in September 2022.

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POLITICS

‘Very little debate’ on consequences of Sweden’s crime and migration clampdown

Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:56 CEST
'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast. 

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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