POLL: Government slide

The governing Liberal and Conservative parties continue to lose voters, and were there an election today, the opposition would sweep into power, according to the latest Megafon poll for Politiken and TV2.

The poll shows that if an election were held now, the minority coalition government and its support parties would garner 81 mandates and the opposition 94 mandates, putting the Social Democratic Leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt firmly in the saddle as prime minister.

According to Megafon the Liberals under Prime Minister lars Løkke Rasmussen would lose eight mandates to land on 38 seats. The party currently has 46 seats in Parliament.

The Conservative Party under Foreign and Deputy Prime Minister Lene Espersen appears in even worse shape, with the poll forecasting only 12 seats in Parliament, a loss of six mandates and the party’s worst poll since 1975.

The government’s loyal support party – the Danish People’s Party - is also seen as losing two mandates to land on 23 seats.

“We have run into a series of badly handled issues. From Lene Espersen’s vacation issue to various government issues that can be seen as divisive. Information has not been clear-cut, and that must be the reason,” says Conservative Political Spokeswoman Henriette Kjær.

Government losses appear to a certain degree to be benefitting the small Liberal Alliance Party, which the poll sees winning a further three mandates.

And while the Social Democratic Party is seen as moving forward in the poll - to 47 seats – the major advances in polls in May, which gave the party 55 seats, seem to have been toned down.

On the other hand, the Socialist People’s Party and the Red-Green Alliance continue their advances. The poll shows the Socialist People’s Party on 30 mandates, an increase of one seat on May’s poll, while Megafon gives the Red-Greens an advance of three mandates to land on seven.

The Christian Democratic Party, which has only recently become represented with one MP due to the defection of a Conservative MP, is not seen as crossing the two percent electoral barrier.

The Danish Folketing or parliament has 179 seats, with two seats each reserved for MPs from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. These seats are not normally included in poll tallies for government and opposition support. Ninety seats are required for a majority.