Survey: Stubb business owners’ preferred presidential candidate

The new Yrittäjägallup survey of SMEs shows that Alexander Stubb is business owners’ preferred presidential candidate.

Alexander Stubb is the preferred candidate of 38% of respondents to the Yrittäjägallup SME survey. Pekka Haavisto was in second place with 14% and Olli Rehn in third with 12%.

“Stubb is by far the most popular among business owners. That’s understandable, as the National Coalition Party which is putting him forward as a candidate is the most popular among business owners,” Mikael Pentikäinen, CEO of Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association, says.

Among business owners, 9% supported Jussi Halla-aho and 8% Mika Aaltola.

A total of 1,300 representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises responded to the Yrittäjägallup survey, which gathers SMEs’ views, at the start of November.

Alexander Stubb and Olli Rehn were more popular among businesses with more than ten employees, while Pekka Haavisto was more popular among single-person businesses.

Rehn was popular in the industrial sector, although here, too, Stubb was by far the most popular candidate.

Stubb was the most popular nationwide, but Rehn ranked second in northern and eastern Finland. Mika Aaltola, by contrast, was popular in western Finland.

“Rehn appeals to industry sector business owners in northern and eastern Finland more than elsewhere, even if Stubb is the most popular candidate there, too,” Pentikäinen says.

Haavisto was significantly more popular among female business owners (21%) than male (9%). Jussi Halla-aho, by contrast, was more popular among male respondents.

Haavisto was the most popular candidate among business owners under the age of 39. There, he beat Stubb by 23% to 19%.

“Haavisto’s more popular among business owners than the Greens are as a party nationwide. Haavisto appeals to young business owners, in particular, across party lines,” Pentikäinen says.

How the survey was conducted

A total of 1,301 representatives of SMEs responded to the survey, conducted by Veriana (formerly Kantar Public) on behalf of Suomen Yrittäjät.

The survey was conducted between 1 and 10 November 2023.

The confidence interval for the survey results is +/- 2.8 percentage points.

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