The Green Party is by a narrow margin the third largest party. As icing on the cake, they will also be bigger than their arch-enemies the Sweden Democrats. It is as funny for the Green Party as it is sour for the Sweden Democrats. The reason can be found in which issues the voters think were most important.
When the EU elections are over, the researchers will study the election results in detail. One of the most important things they look at is which issues voters themselves perceive as the most important. According to SVT’s polling station survey, peace and democracy are the most important issues for Swedish voters. But in third place comes the climate. It is a matter of fact that can be debated. All parties in the Riksdag are for peace and democracy – but in the climate issue there are clear political differences and opportunities for debate. Three parties invested fully in the climate. It was the Green Party, which already has a high level of trust among the voters in that matter. But the climate was also the Left Party’s most important issue, and a top priority issue for the Center Party. All three parties made a good EU election.
Celebrities with high trust
It is a scientific fact that a voter votes for a person they trust. Several confidence surveys among the top candidates show that the Left Party’s first name Jonas Sjöstedt and the Green Party’s Alice Bah Kuhnke are at the top. They are also by far the most famous candidates. One is a former party leader, the other a TV celebrity and former minister. It was thus famous first names in combination with the fact that the parties chose to bet on what the voters demanded that determined the parties’ success.
Forward also for C and KD
In several surveys recently, the Center Party has been just above the four percent barrier to enter the EU parliament. But the party managed not only to remain in parliament, but also to retain both of its mandates. Much thanks to a rhetorically skilled, but relatively unknown to the voters, Emma Wiesner. When it comes to first names, according to SVT’s polling station survey, the top candidate who played the biggest role for the voters was Christian Democrat Alice Teodorescu Måwe. She thus beat all other parties’ first names. The Christian Democrats have in a large number of surveys been well below the four percent threshold, but Teodorescu Måwe’s ability to attract voters meant that the party is now delivering a message of strength and is well above the threshold. Both the Center Party and the Christian Democrats admittedly retreated significantly compared to the 2019 election results, but they beat the low expectations with flying colors.
The Sweden Democrats are the big losers in this election. One explanation is that the party’s policy is profiled around refugees and immigration. But these topics only end up at number ten among voters’ most important issues. The climate issue was thus significantly more important to voters in this election, and this was reflected in the election results.