The biggest loser compared to the last election is the Centre party, but all other parties bar the Green League and the Finns party have lost voters.
The Finns party’s support is up by nearly one and a half percentage points on the previous Yle poll in August, although that is within the poll’s 1.7 percentage point margin of error.
The National Coalition remains the leading party, with 21.5 percent, while the Social Democrats’ support stands at 19.9 percent and the Centre party’s at 15.9 percent.
The SDP has added 1.2 percentage points compared to Yle’s August poll, the same figure lost by the National Coalition, although the number is also within the margin of error. The Centre party’s support is down 0.7 of a percentage point on the August poll.
Surge in support for Finns party
The big parties’ local politicians have much to fear from the surge in Finns party support, as the last time these municipal seats were up for election was four years ago. If the poll backing is translated into votes, Finns party candidates are likely to replace incumbents across the country.
The Centre party, for example, fighting for votes with the Finns party across much of rural Finland, is polling more than four percentage points lower than the 20.1 percent support it garnered in 2008.
The National coalition is polling 2.1 percentage points lower than its 2008 result, and the SDP is 1.3 percentage points below the 2008 level.
The Green League had the support of 8.9 percent of those polled by Yle, mirroring its 2008 result but showing a decline on its August number.
The Left Alliance was supported by 7.8 percent of respondents, one percentage point down on 2008, while the Swedish People’s party polled 4.3 percent which is 0.4 of a percentage point down on 2008, and the Christian Democrats were a whole percentage point lower than their 2008 result with 4.2 percent backing.
Pollster Taloustutkimus interviewed 2,424 people between 3 September and 19 September. Just over 57 percent of people indicated their preferred party. The margin of error is 1.7 percent.