Analysis: "The time past when SD could be dismissed as a single-question party"

Much is the same in Novus's latest survey of the best party on the most important political issues. As usual, the Social Democrats are at the top of most issues, followed by the Moderates, while the Swedish Democrats are considered to be the best party in immigration / integration and the Environmental Party the best party in the environment / climate.

No surprises here. But there have been major changes under the surface in recent years.

In summary, the Social Democrats and the Moderates are still the parties that have the greatest confidence among voters on the most important issues. But while support for these parties, admittedly with ups and downs, has been fairly constant in recent years, support has grown significantly for the Swedish Democrats during the period.

The Swedish Democrats are thus approaching the Moderates, but above all the party is expanding the distance down to the other parties.

In Novus's latest poll, the Sweden Democrats rank in the top three in nine of the ten most important political issues of voters. The trend over time is clear here: One year ago SD received a corresponding placement in seven out of ten issues, in September 2014 in only four of the then ten most important questions.

The development thus clearly illustrates the Swedish Democrats' path from a single-party party to a broader political party.

Admittedly, immigration and integration policy is still the party's most important issue and the issue where voters have the greatest confidence in the party. It can also be stated that the party has further strengthened its position on this issue in recent years.

Nowadays, almost every third voter believes that SD has the best policy when it comes to immigration and integration. No other parliamentary party has such a strong grip on public opinion on a single issue that the SD has when it comes to immigration and integration.

One contributing reason may be that voters are still dissatisfied with the policies of the old parties and that the continued focus of the debate on this issue will thus continue to favor the Sweden Democrats.

But even though immigration policy is still the Swedish Democrats' parade question, the widening support for the party on other political issues means that the time is over when the SD could be dismissed as a single-party party.

One issue in which the Swedish Democrats have made considerable progress in public opinion is law and order. Here, the party has almost doubled its support in recent years. There, the Swedish Democrats are in second place today, admittedly after the Moderates, but before the Social Democrats, which of course is a concern for the large government party at a time characterized by the debate on serious crime and the shooting deaths.

Particularly interesting is the change in environmental and climate issues. Here, SD has long adopted a marked alternative attitude with pronounced skepticism towards climate policy measures, while the party advocates reduced taxes on gasoline and diesel.

The clearly alternative profile in the environmental and climate issue still seems to have paid off for the party. In the latest survey, the Swedish Democrats take third place here, a position they share with the Social Democrats and the Moderates. Support for SD's environmental and climate policy has increased from three to nine percent since 2014.

One explanation may be that the climate issue has become increasingly polarized in recent years. This creates space in the opinion of a party like the Sweden Democrats, who have long advocated a different policy.

On the whole, it can be stated that in most of the most important issues, the Sweden Democrats doubled their support among voters compared to 2014. This concerns, among other things, health policy but also issues that are not normally associated with the party, such as the country's economy, taxes and jobs and employment.

Obviously Jimmie Åkesson's strategy to broaden the image of the party has been successful. In doing so, the party also creates the conditions for further growth in public opinion. But if it really does, it is also determined by the actions of the other parliamentary parties.