Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats saw their worst-ever results in a new poll released by Ipsos this week, as they remain behind the populist Sweden Democrats.

The results for the Social Democrats, 22 per cent, are the worst Sweden’s governing party has ever seen. The relatively new, anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats are now ahead of them by 0.3 per cent, Nyheter Idag reports.

Ipsos opinion analyst Nicklas Källebring commented on the results, saying that the populist SD has managed to establish itself “on a whole new level.”

“Much of the debate has been about crime and refugee reception over the past six months. Also, some of Stefan Löfven’s statements have not landed well and his confidence figures are developing in the wrong direction,” Källebring added.

The Sweden Democrats have routinely performed well in prior polls on the topic of immigration, with SD leader Jimmie Åkesson winning a debate on the subject of immigration prior to the last national election in 2018.

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The rise of violent gang crime, particularly the surge in explosions and bombings in the last year, has also shaken public confidence in the government of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

A poll released last year suggested that only eight per cent of the public believed the government could solve the issue in a timely manner.

Another poll, released in 2018, claimed that 73 per cent of Swedes believed the country was going in the “wrong direction,” and that many citizens were chiefly concerned with crime, unemployment, and immigration.

In both the 2018 national elections and the 2019 European Parliament elections, the Social Democrats saw incredibly poor performances, while the Sweden Democrats have consistently grown.

The Ipsos poll is just the latest national poll to see the Sweden Democrats in the lead. Earlier this year, for the first time, SD leader Jimmie Akesson tied for first place as the party leader with the most voter confidence.

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