Party ratings: SDE support at record high
Isamaa is still firmly in the ratings lead even after a slight drop in support over the past month, while the Social Democratic Party (SDE) remains in second place – in this case at a five-and-a-half year ratings high, according to a recent survey.
The survey, commissioned by the Institute for Social Research and conducted by pollsters Norstat, found the three coalition parties together – the Reform Party, SDE and Eesti 200 - were supported by a total of 37 percent of respondents, while the three opposition parties, Isamaa, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and the Center Party, picked up 55 percent support.
Norstat conducts its polls on a weekly basis, aggregating the results over the preceding four weeks.
By party, Isamaa polled at 29.9 percent, SDE at 17.4 percent and the Reform Party at 16.6 percent this week, according to Norstat.
Isamaa continues to hold its grip on the top spot, though their rating has fallen by 1.1 percentage points since early July.
SDE remains in second place, and its support reaching its highest level since early 2019.
Reform, in third place, has maintained a rating between 16 and 17 percent for the past five weeks straight.
Following these are EKRE with 12.8 percent and the Centrer Party a shade behind them on 12.6 percent.
Among parties represented at the Riigikogu, Eesti 200, which has 14 seats, has the lowest rating, at 3 percent – also the lowest rating the party has had since Norstat started compiling its weekly surveys, in early 2019.
A minimum of 5 percent of the vote is required to win seats at a Riigikogu election in any given district.
The line graph below illustrates changes in party support levels since Norstat began its weekly polls in early 2019. (Key: Yellow = Reform, green = Center, black = EKRE, royal blue = Isamaa, red = SDE, light blue = Eesti 200, light green = Estonian Greens, orange = Parempoolsed).
Based on current ratings, University of Tartu political analyst Martin Mölder has calculated that were a Riigikogu election to be held today, Isamaa would win 36 seats, SDE 20, the Reform Party 18, EKRE 14, and the Center 13 seats.
Once a month, Norstat also quizzes respondents on their opinions about the performance of the government and, for the first time this month, of the prime minister.
In the latest survey, 26 percent found the government is doing "very well" or "quite well" compared with 65 percent who think the government is performing "quite poorly" or "very poorly."
As for their assessment of Prime Minister Kristen Michal's (Reform) work, 16 percent said approve of his performance at present, while 28 percent said they disapprove. As many as 56 percent were in the "Can't say" category. Michal took office as prime minister last month.
Norstat conducts its polls on a weekly basis, aggregating them over a four-week period.
The latest Norstat survey covered the period July 8 to August 4 inclusive, during which time just over 4,000 Estonian citizens of voting age were polled.
Norstat claims a margin of error in direct proportion to the party's size by support, so for instance the margin of error for Isamaa as most-supported party is +/-1.77 percent, compared with +/-0.66 percent for Eesti 200, as the least-supported of the parliamentary parties.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino