The Sweden Democrats have once again made a strong showing in a national poll despite the government taking belated action to tackle the migrant crisis.
Just the latest poll to confirm the ascendency of the insurgent political party, the Ipsos count found some 18.9 per cent of Swedish voters were giving their support to the Sweden Democrats. Commissioned by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the result is the best showing for the party in an Ipsos poll yet reports TheLocal.se.
While the result will cheer the party, they are not by far the best figures they have seen in recent months. Polls in August and November put the Democrats as the potentially largest force in the country, with figures hitting 26 per cent — five points clear of the nearest rival.
The high figures have since been challenged, but other more recent polls have confirmed a strong trend for the Democrats sitting at the one-fifth mark. Just a fortnight ago the party took 19.9 per cent in a nationwide poll which was hailed as being a genuinely credible result.
The Sweden Democrats have continued to do well in polls despite recent action by the governing coalition to curb the migration crisis sweeping the nation. The government had announced changed to migration rules and even enacted a limited closure of the borders with Denmark and Germany.
Yet the perceived failure of these measures, and the years of unbridled mass migration allowed before they were put into place has continued to play into the hands of the Sweden Democrats who may be seen as the only party with a track record on these issues.
The party has enjoyed a rough ride from the mainstream media in their ascent. Swedish media has consistently mischaracterised the modern party as a Fascist or violent movement, and even the UK’s BBC state media organisation has smeared the Sweden Democrats.
In an editorial piece responding to the good opinion polls for the party in November the BBC compared the Democrats to the Fascist movements of the 1930s. Dragging up the alleged “neo-Nazi” roots of the party, the hit-piece referred to events that took place while the present leadership were still young children.
Responding to the BBC, a Sweden Democrat member of parliament said the piece was part of “a coordinated media campaign to silence the growing resistance to immigration”, as reported by Breitbart London at the time.
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