June party ratings: support for EKRE drops, Center loses Russian voters

Compared to the previous month, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) lost the most support, however senior coalition member Center Party is losing support among Russian-speaking voters, it appears from the freshly released results of a nationwide poll.
In a poll conducted at the end of May and beginning of June, a total of ten percent of respondents supported EKRE, indicating a drop of four percent compared to the previous month. With this, EKRE also fell behind the Social Democratic Party (SDE), a junior coalition member, who earned the support of 11 percent of respondents.
While the Center Party has long held onto the top spot in monthly party ratings, this month they were tied with the opposition Reform Party, each of whom was supported by 26 percent of repondents. This result was likewise Reform's best performance yet since losing its spot in the state government last November.
For Center, their decrease in popularity among Russian-speaking voters is significant. While 83 percent of Russian-speaking respondents supported the Center Party in April and 79 percent in May, this same indicator had dropped to just 68 percent in the most recent ratings; it was an increase in support among Estonian-speakers that allowed the Center Party to maintain its rating.
Support for the opposition Free Party remained unchanged at eight percent, while support for the junior coalition member Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL), who recently elected a new party chairman, once again exceeded the election threshold with the support of six percent of respndents; last month, support for IRL had dropped belo the five-percent election theshold.
Among non-parliamentary parties, the Estonian Greens gained the most support, being favored by three percent of poll respondents.
While the combined support for the opposition parties — Reform, Free and EKRE — exceeded support for the government coalition — Center, SDE, IRL — by five percent in May, June ratings indicated that support for the two sides had evened out, with the ruling coalition enjoying the support of a total of 43 percent of voters and the opposition a total of 44 percent of respondents.
In a poll commissioned by ERR's Estonian news, Turu-uuringute AS polled a total of 1,003 people in their homes betewen May 25 and June 6. The results reflect the responses of those who indicated their political preference, making the results analogous to Riigikogu elections. A total of 33 percent of respondents did not indicate their political preference. When polling 1,000 individuals, the maximum error doe not exceed ± 3.10 percent.
Editor: Aili Vahtla