Ruling New Democracy (ND) maintains a commanding lead over opposition parties, according to the latest poll carried out by pollsters MRB.
The poll sheds light on the issues the Greek citizens consider to be most pressing, with the high cost of living standing out.
Specifically, the December MRB survey shows conservative ND holding a lead of more than 20 percentage points from its nearest rival. Socialist PASOK has consolidated second place, followed by major opposition party SYRIZA party, in third place.
The Communist Party (KKE) come in first in terms of respondents’ preferences, with the findings also revealing SYRIZA as losing support to the center and towards its left, as voters are shifting towards PASOK and KKE.
Regarding the newly formed parliamentary group “New Left,” it picked up 2.1% of the respondents’ preference, rising to 2.5% when results extrapolated.
Key findings from the opinion poll given voters’ preferences as:
• New Democracy: 32.5%
• PASOK: 12.2%
• SYRIZA: 10.9%
• KKE: 8.1%
• Greek Solution: 5%
• Course of Freedom: 3.3%
• Spartiates: 3%
• NIKE: 2.7%
• MeRA25: 2.2%
• New Left: 2.1%
In terms of political leaders’ popularity, incumbent Kyriakos Mitsotakis is preferred by 39.7% of respondents. The result comes several months after the back-to-back election victories by ND in May and June 2023.
New SYRIZA president Stefanos Kasselakis is given an 18.5% favorable rating by the poll’s respondents, placing him in the fifth place among other political leaders. KKE leader Dimitris Koutsoumpas comes in second with a 25.1% approval rating.
According to the survey, the most significant issue for Greeks is the high cost of living, a rising concern compared to 12 months ago, followed by health care. Unemployment is in third place, followed by education, economic growth, and, with a notable increase of +8% (17.7% percentage points, a substantial difference), taxation issues.
Finally, issues such as migration/refugees, crime, environmental pollution, and, by extension, climate change, all record double-digit percentages in terms of public concern.
