Finland’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) remains the country’s largest political force, though its lead has narrowed as support for the Left Alliance and the Finns Party continues to rise, according to a new opinion poll published by Helsingin Sanomat (HS).
The survey, conducted by research company Verian for HS, places the SDP on 24.1 per cent support. That marks a decline of 0.2 percentage points from May and continues a gradual slide from December, when the party stood at 25.3 per cent.
The National Coalition Party, known as Kokoomus, remains in second place with 17.4 per cent support. The figure represents a gain of 0.1 percentage points from the previous HS poll and narrows the gap between the two largest parties.
The poll places the Centre Party and the Finns Party in a tie for third place, with both recording support of 13.6 per cent.
The strongest movement in recent months has come from the Left Alliance. The party reached 11.2 per cent support, its highest level in an HS poll since the mid-1990s. The result follows several months of gradual gains and pushes the party above the 11 per cent mark for a second consecutive month.
Minja Koskela, chair of the Left Alliance, has led a period of steady growth for the party. According to HS, the latest figure represents a record level in the newspaper’s polling series and places the Left Alliance as Finland’s fifth-largest party.
The Finns Party also continued an upward trend. Support increased by 0.2 percentage points from May, matching the rise recorded by the Left Alliance. HS reported that support for the Finns Party has been climbing at a modest pace for three months.
Despite the changes, the overall political landscape remains stable. Every party recorded movements of no more than 0.2 percentage points compared with the previous HS survey.
The survey was based on interviews with 4,000 respondents through an online panel, according to information published by HS. The newspaper commissioned Verian to carry out the research.
HT