EKRE gains over 1,000 members in one year
Of all Estonia's political parties, only the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), plus the non-parliamentary Eesti 200, managed to increase their number of members, over the past year. Membership of all other parties fell in that time.
While at the end of last year, EKRE had 8,916, now the number stands at 10,094, i.e. the number of members increased by 1,178. The number of new members is likely to be higher than this figure, given it is a net sum which factors in those who left the party during that time.
In December 2016, EKRE's membership stood at 8,100 members, meaning in five years, it has risen by 2,000.
Eesti 200, which reached a breakthrough at the last local government elections in picking up their first seats, also increased their membership. Whereas a year ago, Eesti 200 had 692 members, a year later, this had risen to 827 members, i.e. 135 more.
The memberships of the remaining parties decreased over the year
The Center Party still remains the party with the highest number of members, at 14,360 members though experienced a fall of 362 members compared with December 2020. At the same time, its membership hasn't significantly changed during the last five years.
The Reform Party is in second place in terms of the number of members. As of the end of the year, the prime minister's party had 10,929, which is 374 members fewer than this time last year.
When comparing the state with five years ago, however, the Reform Party had 12,446 members, meaning in this time, the party has lost over 1,500 members. If the tendency continues, EKRE will soon be the second-largest party by membership.
Isamaa reports 7,689, members, 108 fewer than last year. Five years ago, its figure of 9,215 members, so similarly to the Reform Party, the party has lost over 1,500 members.
The number of members of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) also continued to decline. At the end of the year, SDE had 5,172 members, which is 180 less than last year. Five years ago, SDE had 6,014 members.
At the end of the year, the Estonian Greens had 896 members, 32 fewer than a year ago and 169 fewer than five years ago.
At year-end, the Estonian Party For the Future (TULE), formed by a merger of the former Estonian Free Party and the former Richness of Life party, had 798 members, which is 148 less than a year ago.
The data comes from changes made in the business register.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
