M's defense after the SCB collapse: Blames the collapse on S's ”bluffs”

Statistics Sweden's new giant poll was a cold shower for the government. But instead of self-criticism, the Moderates chose to focus on the Social Democrats - and accuse their opponent of misleading voters.

The Moderates fall to 17.3 percent in Statistics Sweden's (SCB) survey, while the opposition opens up a large lead ahead of the election. The result is one of the party's weakest in Statistics Sweden's opinion polls for many years.

Pointing out the opponent

At the press conference that followed the poll, the Moderates devoted a great deal of energy to explaining why public opinion had developed in the wrong direction. The party leadership claimed that the Social Democrats had succeeded in influencing voters” perception of reality through what the party describes as ”bluffing” and ”smoke and mirrors".

- The Social Democrats have succeeded in a number of scams, said the electoral leader Martin Borgs (M).

He also claimed that these alleged ”hoaxes” explain much of the current public opinion.

Focusing on undecided voters

At the same time, the Moderates emphasized that there are still many undecided voters left to convince. The party secretary Karin Enström stressed that the party sees opportunities to turn things around in the remaining months before the elections.

- We have great potential. We know that many of the undecided voters lean a little more to the right than to the left.

Tough exchange of words after the poll

The political battle following the SCB survey thus quickly became less about the figures themselves and more about the explanation for them. With just over 100 days to go until the election, reactions suggest that parties have already started to position themselves for an election campaign in which the battle over the description of reality may be as important as the battle for voters.