Gothenburg politicians are less popular than ever

Sören Holmberg, a political science professor, thinks Axel Josefsson’s popularity figures are “remarkably low.”

– It has much, much lower numbers than any municipal board president has ever had before. Although it is new, it has really started with weak numbers. And it’s the same with Jonas Attenius actually. No Social Democratic leader has come up with such a low number.

Long Measure Series

Since 1994, the SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg has investigated how famous and popular local politicians are. Sören Holmberg’s new study is included in the book We are all digital which was released on Friday.

• The study shows that the group leaders of the city’s parties only once during the 25 years that the measurements were made were less well known than today. That was in 2007 when the average awareness was 28 percent. In the new poll, it’s 31 percent.
• Gothenburg politicians have never been less popular than today. Average popularity is minus 3. The lowest figure previously noted was zero, in the 2016 poll.

When it comes to how famous politicians are, the study is done so that the participants get the name of the person and kiss each other to see if they know it or not. The loss of responses has grown in recent years, with about half of those who receive the survey never respond to it.

– So those are overestimated numbers. If I did a poll with all the Gothenburgers, the result would be even worse, says Sören Holmberg.

Wannholt most famous

Of today’s group leaders, Martin Wannholt (D) is the best known. 45 percent of those who responded have stated that they know who he is.

Helene Odenjung (L) is second with 40, Jörgen Fogelklou (SD) third with 37.

The least known are Stina Svensson (FI) with 23 and Elisabet Lann (KD) with 19.

Göran Johansson, who was an S leader during the 1990s and 2000s, had figures of around 80 percent.

– It lasted a long time and it was a great personality. If it lasts a long time, it becomes more popular, says Sören Holmberg.

With the exception of party leaders and top ministers, Swedish politicians have become less well known in recent decades. Today, few people know members of the local parliament, regional politicians or local representatives.

– One reason is probably that the competition has increased: today we have sports celebrities, influencers and pop artists. There is a lot of competition for the public’s attention, says Sören Holmberg.

How concerned should politicians be about that?

– You don’t have to be very worried. We have representative democracy based on political parties. It is not those in positions of trust that are important, but the party program. But it is clear that it is an advantage when we have a more individualistic philosophy than we have today, that individuals are known.

Today’s Gothenburg politicians are also less popular than their predecessors. Sören Holmberg says he had the thesis that it could be because they were less well known. That is, the popularity would gradually increase.

But is not. The study shows that it is quite the opposite. Popularity tends to decline.

What could be the reason that today’s town halls are less popular?

– I do not dare to speculate, but it is possible that the demands have increased and that means that we as citizens demand more and better efforts from our local politicians. So you can think about how well Gothenburg performed, with bridges and other things that were not built and the Western Link that they implemented, even though most Gothenburgers were negative about it. Such things extend to politicians.

READ MORE: The family goes first by the new main name of the Social Democrats

READ MORE: Elisabet Lann takes over as KD City Councilor