Swedish blue-collar workers increasingly sympathize with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrat party, an opinion poll review showed on Friday.
Members of the unions within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, the umbrella blue-collar union organization in Sweden, still in large part support the opposition left-of-centre Social Democrat party.
However, the Sweden Democrats have now surpassed the Moderate Party, which leads the current government coalition, to become the second most popular political party among LO members, a review of opinion polls ordered by Sveriges Television (SVT) showed.
“One in six LO members would vote for the Sweden Democrats if we went to the polls today,” Sifo pollster Toivo Sjörén commented on the findings. “Immigration has been in spotlight so we see increased Sweden Democrat support not only within LO but within other groups.”
The review looked at opinion polls conducted in the autumn of 2012 and over the holiday season. About 4,800 people were surveyed.