Young men shift left as support for Tidö parties falls

Young voters have moved to the left during the current parliamentary term, with the shift particularly pronounced among young men, according to SVT/Verian polling. Support for the Tidö parties among men aged 18 to 29 has fallen from 63.7 per cent in August 2022 to 43.9 per cent in August 2026.

“The view that young men vote clearly conservatively is no longer accurate,” said Per Söderpalm, Verian’s polling director. “Today, the opposition even has a narrow lead among young men.”

Support for the opposition has also increased among young women. In August, 74.2 per cent said they would vote for one of the opposition parties, while 25.6 per cent said they would vote for a Tidö party. Verian said young women are the voter group in which the red green parties have their strongest support.

Young voters could decide the election

Söderpalm said the shift among young voters was an important factor in understanding the broader opinion landscape. Voters aged 18 to 29 are now the age group in which the red green parties have their highest level of support, he said.

Young voters are generally more likely than older voters to change their preferences, Söderpalm said. Support for both individual parties and political blocs can therefore change quickly, making the group particularly important to political parties.

How the survey was conducted

The survey combines two voter barometers, each with about 3,000 respondents. Interviews were conducted with people in the Sifo panel, which is recruited through random, nationally representative samples and has about 85,000 participants.

The sample covers people aged 18 to 84. Telephone interviews are added for people aged 85 and over. SVT then isolated responses from those aged 18 to 29 to examine the views of younger voters.

Respondents were asked which party they would vote for if an election were held that day. The response rate was about 40 per cent. Respondents were weighted to represent demographic groups based on gender, age, region, education and party preference in the previous election.

The surveys were conducted from August 3 to September 2, 2026.