Study names MEP Marju Lauristin Estonian politician with most authority
A joint study by daily Eesti Päevaleht, news portal Delfi, weekly Maaleht and independent research company Turu-uuringute AS shows Marju Lauristin – a social scientist and Social Democrats MEP – to be the country's foremost political opinion leader.
Over the coming days, the study titled “Authorities in Estonia 2015” will list 20 Estonians with the greatest authority in nine different walk of life. Lauristin topped the charts for politics, Eesti Päevaleht reported.
Top 20 political authorities in Estonia 2015:
1. Marju Lauristin (Social Democrats MEP)
2. Jevgeni Ossinovski (Social Democrats chairman, Minister of Health and Labor)
3. Taavi Rõivas (Prime Minister, Reform Party)
4. Yana Toom (Center Party MEP)
5. Edgar Savisaar (Center Party chairman, Mayor of Tallinn)
6. Indrek Tarand (Independent MEP)
7. Jürgen Ligi (Minister of Education and Research, Reform Party)
8. Margus Tsahkna (IRL chairman, Minister of Social Protection)
9. Kaja Kallas (Reform Party MEP)
10. Eiki Nestor (Parliament Speaker, Social Democrats)
11. Hanno Pevkur (Minister of Internal Affairs, Reform Party)
12. Kadri Simson (Center Party, head of Parliament faction)
13. Mart Helme (EKRE chairman)
14. Toomas Hendrik Ilves (President)
15. Sven Mikser (Social Democrats, MP)
16. Sven Sester (Minister of Finance, IRL)
17. Rain Rosimannus (Reform Party)
18. Urmas Reinsalu (Minister of Justice, IRL)
19. Andres Herkel (Free Party chairman)
20. Kristen Michal (Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure, Reform Party)
The list takes into account several factors, including the results of a popularity poll that asked 1,000 respondents to name 5 most influential or authoritative people in each category. In addition, researchers looked at mentions in social media and Google, donations made to the party, election results (2015 and 2014), company or organization board memberships, position as an employer, and popularity of books authored by the subjects.
Editor: M. Oll