The figures are also significant heading towards the local elections this fall, and reflect some high-profile defections to Isamaa in particular.

As of this week, the two coalition parties are the Reform Party and Eesti 200. The ejection of the Social Democrats (SDE) from office at the start of the week leaves them in opposition along with Isamaa, the Center Party, and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE). This makes for something of a rainbow opposition too, compared with the two coalition partners, whose economic and other worldviews are largely in sync.

The larger non-parliamentary parties can also be added into the mix, notably Parempoolsed.

Since the start of this year, EKRE has been the biggest winner in terms of new supporters.

In two and a half months, 548 people have joined the party, slightly fewer than the total number of new members over the past two years.

This should be offset against losses the party saw last summer, when several prominent members left EKRE to set up a rival party, the ERK.

Since then, EKRE has recovered. Party leader Martin Helme put the large influx of new members down to a campaign that has brought like-minded people into the EKRE fold. "This will continue for a while, but the main surge is over," he told ERR.

As for the process of joining: "The local organization must first accept them, and then they get added to the registry. We still have about a hundred people in the works."

As for the ERK blip: "We have filled that gap," Helme said.

At the same time, Helme pointed to limits to the party's hospitality. "We also have a principle that we do not take back those who left."

As well as topping the ratings for many months now, Isamaa has also stood out for its large number of new members, with 94 people joining this year, and nearly 700 since the beginning of 2023.

Isamaa Secretary-General Andres Metsoja said that a major factor in new members joining is also a campaign, in this case a pre-election style canvassing in the street.

"When we set up the tents, we invite people to join the party," Metsoja said.

Isamaa was also the beneficiary of several high-profile joiners last year, at the expense of the Center Party mainly, including MEP and former prime minister Jüri Ratas.

Metsoja also stated that since several Riigikogu MPs have joined the party, some of their close associates have followed.

Isamaa's rating, which has exceeded the 30 percent mark, also helps, in a game where being seen as strong serves to attract more members.

"Certainly, we have also gained members who think Isamaa is the right party based on our popularity," Metsoja told ERR.

"Whenever a party's rating is high, there is more interest," he added.

The Center Party has made more modest gains this year so far at 31, though its net gain is 269 since the start of 2023 despite an exodus of members that year and the following year, in the wake of Mihhail Kõlvart's accession as party leader, and also a relatively poor performance at the 2023 Riigikogu election.

SDE has gained 12 new members this year and 174 since the year before last. The party did pick up a few high-profile joiners over the past year, including Züleyxa Izmailova from Eesti 200, and Vladimir Svet, until recently infrastructure minister, from Center.

In the meantime, Reform has only picked up 16 new members this year, and 160 since the start of 2023.

Party's Secretary-General Timo Suslov said this in part reflects the party's already high membership.

"We have a very, very strong membership base. I believe new members will continue to join steadily. Whether there should or will be a mass influx is another thing," Suslov said.

Eesti 200, founded in 2018 and first entering office in 2023, says it still plans to recruit new members ahead of the local elections.

MP Igor Taro said: "This is one of the most logical points of time to do so. Whether it's local elections or Riigikogu elections, new people tend to join parties."

So far this year, however, Eesti 200, whose rating has been notably low in recent months, has not seen anyone new joining the party; remaining in office at the national level may help to remedy this.

Of the non-parliamentary parties, Parempoolsed stands out, and the party now has more members, albeit by just one, at 732, than Eesti 200.

The party is also economically on the right (literally what "Parempoolsed" means), which will make it hard to compete with Reform and Eesti 200, as well as Isamaa – it was originally formed around a nucleus of ex-Isamaa members.

The Green Party (Rohelised) has not seen anyone sign up yet this year, while eight people have left the Russia-aligned EÜVP party. The related but separate Koos/Vmeste party has gained three new members.

Finally, the Free Party (Vabaerakond), which a decade ago had several Riigikogu seats, is not wholly defunct and has seen two people join this year too.

In absolute terms, Center has the largest number of registered members at 12,094, followed by Reform (9,455), EKRE (9,255), Isamaa (7,131) and SDE (4,633).

All other party membership figures are in the hundreds.

The elections to Estonia's 79 municipalities take place October 19.

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