Healthcare leads voters’ priorities as elder care rises

Healthcare remains the most important political issue for voters ahead of the election, according to a Verian poll reported by SVT. Elder care has also climbed in importance, while energy policy and law and order have lost ground since the 2022 election.

Healthcare was identified as one of the most important issues by 64 percent of respondents, up from 55 percent in May. It leads the ranking across several age groups, according to Per Söderpalm, Verian’s polling director.

“It concerns both oneself and relatives,” Söderpalm said. He added that healthcare has few clear dividing lines between political parties, which may explain why it rarely becomes one of the dominant issues in election campaigns.

Elder care moves into fourth place

Elder care has risen to fourth place in the ranking. In August, 38 percent of voters considered it an important issue, compared with 30 percent in May. It now ranks ahead of environmental and climate issues, the national economy and immigration.

“It shows that welfare is important to voters,” Söderpalm said. Healthcare, schools and elder care all rank among the most important issues, he said.

Elder care was a prominent issue during the pandemic but has not since been among the main subjects of the political debate, Söderpalm said. He noted that, like healthcare, it is managed by municipalities and regions, which may be one reason it has less often become a major issue in national politics.

Energy policy drops to ninth

Law and order has fallen in the ranking compared with a similar poll conducted before the 2022 election. The biggest decline is in energy policy, which dominated much of the debate in 2022 but now ranks ninth.

Overall, the changes are small and domestic political issues continue to dominate the list. Söderpalm described the results as generally stable, saying that no single issue has yet gained momentum among voters in the way energy policy did before the 2022 election.

“The fact that there has not been more change is a sign that the election campaign has not really taken shape yet,” he said. “There are still four weeks until the election, so much can happen.”

About the poll

Verian’s survey is based on 4,522 interviews with randomly selected people aged 18 to 84 who were recruited through a web panel. Respondents were asked which political issues were most important to them at the time, and could select more than one answer. The survey was conducted from 28 July to 11 August.