If elections were held in Switzerland today, parties on the right would move ahead at the expense of those on the left, especially parties focused on the environment, according to a recent poll run by Sotomo.
The biggest gainer would be the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), which gained 2.0 percentage points in the poll, reaching 29.9%. The Socialist Party, in second place, could expect to lose 0.5 percentage points with 17.8%, while the Green and Green Liberal parties would expect to fall 0.5 and 1 percentage points respectively to win 9.5% and 6.6% respectively. The two more moderately right PLR/FDP (14.3%) and Centre (14.1%) parties would expect to attract the same percentages as at the last election. Overall, there would be a shift of 2 percentage points right.
The biggest fall would the shift away from the two Green parties. The Green Party was hit hard in the last election, when it lost 3.4 percentage points to 10%. In this poll it slid another 0.5 percentage points to 9.5%. The Liberal Green Party, which is focused on safeguarding the environment but with a more liberal economic stance slipped 1 percentage point, suggesting that disillusionment with environmental politics is particularly strong among those with a more liberal economic outlook.
Economics seem to be a growing preoccupation among voters. The survey showed a rising concern about continued hikes in the cost of health insurance, which is now of concern to 50% of the population. Immigration (33%) and political asylum (29%) were the next most common voter concerns. Climate came fourth (26%). In 2022, 43% of those surveyed were concerned about climate change. Next most important was social security and cost of living (24%).
Across political party lines, health insurance premiums and social security and cost of living were universally highly ranked. However, those on the right and left differed significantly on the importance of immigration. Among Swiss People’s Party supporters, 57% reported concerns regarding immigration, compared to 10% of Socialist Party supporters. On the subject of climate change the results swung the other way.
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Sotomo poll (in German)
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