Poll slump sends shockwaves through Social Democrats

The Social Democrats have fallen sharply in the latest Novus poll for TV4, prompting concern within the party, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports. The party has dropped 4.3 percentage points since Novus’s previous poll on August 19 and now stands at 25.8 per cent.

At the same time, the gap between the political blocs has narrowed, with the opposition’s lead now at 2.6 percentage points.

SVT political reporter Tomas Nordenskiöld said he had spoken during the day with several senior Social Democratic representatives.

“They stress that they expected to lose some support, but they admit they did not expect such a large drop,” Nordenskiöld said.

He said part of the party’s strategy had been to accept losing some voters to MP, V and C while attracting voters from the right-wing bloc. However, the latest figures suggest the party is losing support in all directions.

“They are losing voters to the right, which is a major concern for the Social Democrats. These figures are extremely problematic if upcoming polls show that the party is struggling in the final stretch,” Nordenskiöld said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Social Democratic party secretary Tobias Baudin called the figures a “wake-up call”.

“It is clear that voters have taken it for granted that the election was already decided. This election could be very, very close,” he said.

Questions over campaign strategy

Nordenskiöld said discussions within the party indicated doubts about some of its strategic choices, even though those concerns were not being expressed by the people leading the campaign.

He pointed to the party’s decision to turn the election into what he called a “wallet election”, focusing heavily on household finances.

“That may actually be more of the Moderates’ home ground. The party could have created a conflict around welfare, for example. Instead, the focus is largely on financial issues, and the Social Democrats have ended up on the defensive,” Nordenskiöld said.

He added that the party was examining its own choices, but that it was now too late to change strategy.