SD “the year's big loser” in public opinion

Published 13 December 2024 at 15.44

Domestic. When the voter flows for 2024 are summed up, the Sweden Democrats stand as this year's big losers. That is what Mats Knutson, SVT's domestic political commentator, states in an analysis.

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The dissatisfaction with the Tidö collaboration and that nothing seems to be happening in the immigration and emigration issue seems begin to make an impact in SD's opinion figures.

The party has lost 3.2 percentage points in one year, according to SVT Verian's latest voter barometer. According to Mats Knutson, the case is due to painful compromises in government cooperation and a lost special position in the migration issue.

Other factors can also come into play and have led to increased support for M at the expense of SD, according to Knutsson.

“The SD has also not benefited from the continued strong focus on defense and security issues. This is probably the explanation for the Moderates' progress during the year (+ 2 percentage points). NATO membership was also a feather in the cap for the government. Another explanation is a decrease in dissatisfaction with the government. Talk of a brighter economy and hopes for more money in the wallet are also factors that can benefit the leading government party,” he writes. At the same time, the figures show that the Tidö parties as a whole continue to lag significantly behind the opposition, which now has an advantage of 6–7 percentage points. However, the Social Democrats have fallen by 2.4 percentage points, which is linked, among other things, to scandals surrounding Jamal El Haj and the party's criticized lotteries. Magdalena Andersson's decreased confidence has also not helped the S to keep its voter support up. The Green Party is this year's big winner with an increase of 2.3 percentage points. According to Knutson, the party has received a boost after the change of spokesperson, where Amanda Lind and Daniel Helldén took over the leadership. The new duo has focused on climate and the environment, and less on political correctness, which seems to have attracted more voters.

Despite the changes in individual parties' support, the opinion polls show that the Tidö parties are still having difficulty reversing the negative trend, which puts the government collaboration under continued pressure.