Social Democrats shaken by four-point poll drop

The Social Democrats have been jolted by a 4.3 percentage-point decline in a TV4/Novus poll, SVT reported on Wednesday. Party secretary Tobias Baudin called the result a wake-up call, saying the party is well below the level it wants to reach.

The poll puts the Social Democrats at 25.8 per cent support. The gap between the governing parties and the opposition is 2.6 percentage points, according to the survey.

“It shows that the Social Democrats are far below the level we want to be at and that the election could be very, very close,” Baudin said.

He said many voters may have assumed that the election was already decided. Baudin also argued that the only guarantee against 12 Sweden Democrats ministers forming the next government is for Magdalena Andersson to become prime minister, which he said would require voters to support the Social Democrats.

Asked whether the party had failed to clearly explain what it wants to do after the election, Baudin pointed to its newly presented election platform. It includes a major dental care reform to make dental treatment cheaper for all adults, as well as pledges on strong public services, pension reform and smaller classes for young children.

Senior Social Democrats had expected the gap between the opposition and the governing Tidö parties to narrow, and had also anticipated a decline for their own party. However, several Social Democrats who spoke to SVT said the size of the drop was surprising.

Several party figures said the Sweden Democrats’ decision to confront other Tidö parties had been successful because it had given the party extensive media coverage. They also pointed to Jimmie Åkesson’s deadline for the Liberals as something that may have boosted Liberal support.