Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition, remains a viable candidate to become the next prime minister of Finland, indicates the latest opinion poll commissioned by YLE. (Credit: Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
The Social Democratic Party and National Coalition Party are separated by no more than 2.5 percentage points after popular support for the former increased by 0.1 percentage points and that for the latter by 1.3 percentage points in October, according to YLE.
The public broadcasting company reported today that 22.7 per cent of the public would currently vote for the Social Democrats and 20.2 per cent for the National Coalition.
The Centre Party, on the other hand, has failed to keep step with the two parties, with its popularity falling by 1.1 percentage points to 16.5 per cent.
Jenni Karimäki, a senior researcher at the Centre for Parliamentary Studies of the University of Turku, estimates that the two ruling parties are heading in different directions due to the burden of responsibility being heavier for the Centre Party than for the National Coalition.
The Centre, she explained, has taken most of the blame for unpopular decisions and controversies such as the recent dispute over measures to encourage hiring by small businesses, whereas the National Coalition can be seen as having stood up for principles in the government.
The Green League has similarly continued on a downward trajectory, with its popularity slipping by 0.3 percentage points to 11.3 per cent. Its projected vote share is lower than its vote share in the latest municipal elections (12.5%) but – as the opposition party readily reminds – still well above its vote share in the latest parliamentary elections (8.5%).
The Finns Party and Left Alliance traded places as the fifth and sixth most popular parties, as support for the former increased by 0.5 percentage points to 9.8 per cent and that for the latter decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 9.2 per cent.
YLE also highlighted that the share of undecided voters is unusually high: only 59 per cent of respondents were willing to disclose which party they would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held today.
A total of 3,433 people were interviewed for the poll between 3 October and 6 November by Taloustutkimus.
