Labour Party gets the most support in latest poll

The Labour Party (Ap) moves forward 3,4 percent to 36,1 percent in the latest poll, whereas the support for the government parties falls.  The results are the Labour Party's best since January 2012, in polls administrered by Opinion. The latest increase confirms that the Labor Party is Norway's largest party at 36,1 percent. 

The second largest party, The Conservative (Høyre), loses 1,6 percentage points and ends up at 25,3 percent. The support for the Progress Party goes down to 14,2 percent, a decline of 0,9 percent. 

The government's supporting parties, The Liberal Left (Venstre) and the Christian Democrats (KrF), also lose points in the latest poll. The Liberal Left loses 0,6 percentage points and ends up at 4,8 percent, whereas the Christian Democrats end up at 5,5 percent, down 0,2 percent from the last poll in May. 

The new leader of the Labour Party, Jonas Gahr Støre, is pleased with the results, but does not think that the change in party leadership has caused the increase in support. 

"I think that the voters now see a party that looks to the future and good solutions, rather than explaining things with the past," Støre says. 

"We are about to develop a new form of politics where knowledge, health, climate and welfare are central themes. I think people are both curious and happy about this," he adds.

The Labour Party has gained a total of 5,3 percentage points since the election last fall. The party would have had eleven more members of parliament if these latests results had been the outcome of an election. However, the Progress Party and the Conservative Party still form the majority at Parliament with the support from the Liberal Left and the Christian Democrats, despite a total decline in support for both parties of 3,6 percentage points. 

(NRK)