September party ratings: Reform loses ground to Centre
While the opposition Reform Party remains the most popular political force in Estonia, it has lost significant ground to the coalition Centre Party, according to the results of a survey commissioned by BNS and daily Postimees and conducted by Kantar Emor in mid-September.
Support for Reform dropped from 29.8% to 26.7% among voting-age citizens with a political preference, while ratings for the Centre Party rose from 23.8% in August to 24.6% in September.
The opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) remained the third most popular party, supported by 20% of respondents, or 1.2% fewer than in August.
The coalition Social Democratic Party (SDE) was the fourth most popular party in September, garnering the support of 12.5% of respondents. One month prior, support for SDE was slightly higher at 12.7%.
Other parties below election threshold
The remaining parties all remained below the 5% election threshold. Nascent political movement Estonia 200, however, which has announced their plan to establish a political party, rose to sixth in popularity.
The coalition Pro Patria Party earned the support of 4.9% of voters with a political preference. In comparison, Estonia 200 had the support of 4.1% of voters.
The opposition Free Party had the support of just 3.4% of voters, while the non-parliamentary Estonian Greens was supported by 3.2% of voters.
The Estonian Independence Party garnered the support of 0.4% and the People's Unity Party 0.3% of respondents. The Biodiversity Party being established by MP Artur Talvik, meanwhile, had the support of 0% of voters.
In order to make it as comparable as possible to the outcome of a parliamentary election, the results of the survey represent respondents who expressed a political preference. The share of respondents who had no preference or were unwilling to disclose it stood at 23% in September, dropping by 6.8% compared to August. The margin of error was ±2.9%.
From 12-20 September, Kantar Emor conducted online interviews with a total of 973 Estonian citizens between the ages of 18-84.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS