According to the monthly survey conducted by SKDS on behalf of Latvian Television, with a year to go until the next Saeima elections next October, the leading party remains the opposition Harmony (Saskaņa) with 10% support, though it is also the party that shed the most support during the last month (-2%).
The opposition Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS) retains second place with a slightly smaller but also significant drop. Back in September, 8.3% of voters were ready to vote for this political force, but in October that figure is 6.5%.
The New Unity (Jauna Vienotība) party of PM Krišjānis Kariņš fell a similar amount but hangs on to third place with 6.4% support.
In fourth place is the National Alliance (NA) on 5.3% support, followed by Development/For! (A/P!) on 4.6%.
Meanwhile the Progressives (P) hold 2.7% of voters' affections with the New Conservative Party (JKP) and the Latvian Russian Union (LKS) both on 2.5%, followed by a few other smaller parties including recent populist formations.
To win seats in Saeima, a party needs to attract at least 5% of votes cast, much easier than attracting 5% of the total electorate. On that basis, if elections were held tomorrow, 11 different parties would be sure of or very close to securing seats.
But as ever with Latvian politics, a huge chunk of the potential electorate remains uninterested or disaffected. 28.4% of respondents said they were undecided about which way to vote, while 21.4% said they had no intention of voting at all. That means half of potential voters remain up for grabs and all parties will be working to attract their interest over the next 11 months.
