The opposition has a firm grip of the Swedish opinion. According to the latest poll from Sentio research, Social democrats, the left party and the Greens would get 56.6 percent together while the centre-right coalition would only get 37.7 percent if national election was held today. Last year was the first time the Social democrats lost power in times when the economy is blooming. The general explanation was that they failed to see the many people who had been involuntary away from the labour market for a long time. The unpopular tax on real estate and the unpopularity of Prime Minister Göran Persson is also believed to have caused the shift in government.
The economy is still blooming and unemployment is pressed back. The government has however had problems with their credibility with ministers who have resigned for various reasons. Two of them, resigned only weeks after being appointed since they had failed to pay their TV-license and paid black salaries. The third, defence minister Mikael Odenberg, resigned last month due to different opinions about the governments defence policy.
They have also done some unpopular cuts in the unemployment benefits. All this is believed to be reasons for their poor performance in the opinion polls. Besides, Swedish voters normally vote on the Social democrats or their allies and now when Persson is gone, one reason for voting differently is gone.