Health care unchallenged first among voters' most important issues before the election

With just over three weeks left until the election, healthcare is unchallenged first on the list of the most important political issues. 64 percent of the voters in Verian's poll think that the issue is one of the most important before the election, which is an increase from 55 percent in May.

According to Per Söderpalm, opinion manager at Verian, healthcare is an issue that engages widely and in many age groups.

- It is about both oneself and relatives. At the same time, it is an issue that does not have many clear lines of conflict between the political parties, which means that it rarely becomes one of the real big issues in the election campaigns, he says.

Elderly care is climbing

One issue that has risen in importance in the eyes of voters in recent months is care for the elderly. It now ends up fourth on the list – ahead of issues such as the environment and climate, the country's economy and immigration.

In August, 38 percent of voters rated the issue as important, which can be compared with 30 percent in May.

- It shows that welfare is important to voters. That healthcare, school and care for the elderly are all among the most important issues shows its importance. Elderly care was important during the pandemic, but has not been one of the major issues in the political debate since then, says Per Söderpalm, at Verian.

He points out that care for the elderly, just like health care, is run in municipalities and regions, and that this may be a reason why it does not often gain momentum in the national political debate.

The questions that have cooled

Law and order has dropped on the list of voters' most important issue compared to the same survey conducted before the 2022 election. This can be seen as a sign that the issue is not as high on the agenda. The biggest loss, however, is the energy policy. In the 2022 election, it characterized a large part of the debate, but now the issue only ends up in ninth place.

Otherwise, small changes are visible in which issues the voters see as most important. Domestic political issues top the list - and according to Per Söderpalm, the results are generally stable.

- That it does not happen more is a sign that the election movement has not really taken shape yet. No single issue has so far gained momentum among the voters in the same way as, for example, energy policy did before the 2022 election. However, there are still four weeks until the election, so much can still happen, says Per Söderpalm.