The downward spiral in support for the populist Finns Party continues, according to Yle's most recent political party support poll, this one for October-November. Meanwhile, support for the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) continues to rise. The Centre Party leads the polls with 21.7 percent of public favour, while the Finns Party is in fifth place.
According to Taloustutkimus Research Director Jari Pajunen, the 2.4 percent increase for the SDP since the last poll a month ago is surprising. In just two months, support for the SDP has risen by more than 6 percentage points.
“It’s not unusual that rising support for large parties continues over a longer period of time, but it is a surprise that such a sharp rise has continued through two consequent polls,” says Pajunen.
Finns Party favour drops to 2010 levels
Backing for the Finns Party has almost dropped by half of what is was - 17.7 percent - in April's parliamentary elections. The last time that Finns Party support was so low was 2010.
Pajunen says it's likely that the Finns Party's anti-immigration supporters have moved on to support smaller parties outside of government. Small party support rose 0.6 percentage points over the previous poll to a total of 2.6 percent support.
“Finns Party anti-immigration supporters may have difficulties finding a new home in this political climate. Attacks on wage earners' benefits are also causing movement towards the Social democratic direction,” says Pajunen.
Rapid fluctuations in party support have increased during the past five years, according to Pajunen.
Those other parties
The two other coalition government parties, the Centre and National Coalition, have retained their support standings, with the Centre Party at 21.7 percent and the National Coalition rising 0.3 percentage points over last month to 18.3 percent.
“The Centre Party and National Coalition have a stable support base," says Pajunen.
Taloustutkimus Research interviewed 2,933 people and 65 percent of respondents revealed which political party they support, which is 2 percentage points higher than in the previous poll. Interviews were carried out between October 12 and November 3, 2015.