– In the spring of 2019, we experienced an explosively growing climate agenda that we have never seen before. It came as a surprise to many of the parties, but slowly the agenda exploded, says professor and election researcher Kasper Møller Hansen from the University of Copenhagen.
Over 55 percent of voters indicated that climate was the most important issue in the week leading up to the general election.
The book lists four possible reasons why climate came high on the agenda.
The Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg, the aggressive climate approach of various organizations, the elderly’s concern for the future of young people, and that several media put the topic high on the agenda because the voters demanded it.
The election in 2001 became known as the “foreigners’ election”, while in 2011 it became known as the “crisis election” after the financial crisis. 2019 can be described as the “climate election”, according to the authors behind the book, which is the most comprehensive statistical analysis of the election to date.
Voters’ attention to climate and the environment tripled from 2015 to 2019, which is the highest ever. Going forward, there is good reason to believe that climate will become a persistent issue for voters’ party elections.
It was not a youthful mobilization that anyone has challenged. The topic has addressed all groups regardless of age, gender and to some extent party color.
– Compared to the other topics, the climate agenda overshadowed everything else. It is clear that the young people in the beginning want it the most, but when the election comes, it is everyone who has jumped on the bandwagon, says Kasper Møller Hansen.
Even among the Danish People’s Party voters, who are among the most climate skeptical, there was a growing interest.
The great attention was an advantage for the parties in the red bloc, which is clearly the strongest on the issue in the eyes of the voters. It appears from the analysis.
Many voters have voted red to protect the climate, even if it becomes expensive. Conversely, many other voters have voted blue to avoid a future bill.
The rising climate agenda is seen everywhere in Europe, but Sweden and Denmark stand out by being the two countries that are most concerned about climate change.
Kasper Møller Hansen describes it as the record election, as the largest number of voters ever first decided during the election. At the same time, a record number of people changed party, which matches the 1973 landslide election.
The Social Democrats ‘pension proposal was also very high on the voters’ agenda.
Source: The Nordic Page