Centre Party overtakes Isamaa to lead Estonia’s polls

The Centre Party has become Estonia’s most popular party, overtaking Isamaa in an October poll by Turu-uuringud, ERR reported. It was backed by 23 percent of adult citizens with a voting preference, up from 21 percent in September.

Isamaa ranked second with 19 percent, down three percentage points. The Conservative People’s Party of Estonia, known as EKRE, was third with 18 percent, up from 16 percent. The Social Democratic Party received 14 percent, compared with 15 percent in September.

Support for the governing Reform Party fell from 12 percent to 10 percent, while support for its coalition partner Estonia 200 rose from 1 percent to 2 percent. Their combined support was 12 percent. Opposition parties together held 74 percent support.

Among parties outside parliament, Parempoolsed had 8 percent support, down from 9 percent. Other parties received between 0 and 1 percent, while 2 percent of respondents with a voting preference said they would vote for an independent candidate.

The survey was conducted from October 1 to 7 among 899 Estonian citizens aged 18 or older. One-third of responses were collected by phone and two-thirds online. Seventy-four percent of respondents had a voting preference.