Pulse poll: ND retains 7-percentage-point over SYRIZA; concerns over rising cost-of-living

The latest opinion poll by the Pulse firm – conducted on a monthly basis – gives ruling New Democracy (ND) party a slimmer lead over main opposition SYRIZA compared to the previous month, although the result extends an unbroken and nearly seven-year streak whereby the former tops the latter in the specific poll.

Conservative ND is given a seven-percentage-point lead over leftist SYRIZA, based on an extrapolation of respondents’ answers.

Another significant result emanating from the poll, presented during the prime-time newscast of an Athens-area television station, is that rising costs, especially in terms of energy and the super market basket, are a priority for respondents.

Asked who they would vote for if elections were held next Sunday, 33 percent of respondents (based on the extrapolation) picked ND, as opposed to 26 percent for SYRIZA.

The once dominant PASOK-KINAL party, a social democrat-cum socialist grouping, is preferred by 11.5 percent of respondents, remaining – barely – in double-digit “territory”.

All three lesser parties currently represented in Parliament are also shown as exceeding 3 percent – the figure needed to enter the legislature as a percentage of valid votes in a general election.

Asked who is most suitable for prime minister, incumbent Kyriakos Mitsotakis is picked by 39 percent of respondents, to 28 percent for Alexis Tsipras. The latter are the two main contenders. The answer “neither of the two”, however, was picked by 29 percent of respondents.

The poll was conducted on a sample of 1,205 adults with a right to vote, between Nov. 19 and Nov. 22.