When Swedes are asked which party leader they would most like to share a Christmas dinner with, Magdalena Andersson (S) once again comes out on top. However, Jimmie Åkesson (SD) is quickly closing the gap and is the first choice among voters aged 50–64. At the same time, several party leaders receive record low scores – and the absolute least popular to carve the Christmas ham with is the Green Party’s Daniel Helldén.

With less than a year left until the parliamentary elections, Livsmedelsföretagen, through Demoskop, had 1,006 Swedes answer which party leader they would most like to have Christmas dinner with. The results show that Magdalena Andersson (S) remains the most popular. She garners 27 percent of the votes, keeping her top spot from last year.

READ ALSO: How much Swedes are spending on Christmas gifts this year

Close behind is Jimmie Åkesson (SD), who shows the biggest increase in the survey. With 24 percent, he has risen six percentage points compared to 2024 and solidifies his position as second place by a comfortable margin.

Ebba Busch (KD) lands at 14 percent, meaning she overtakes Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M). The Moderate Party leader has to settle for 13 percent, just outside the top three.

New party leaders off to a slow start

On the lower half of the list is Nooshi Dadgostar (V), who, just like last year, gets 9 percent and holds on to fifth place. The newly appointed party leaders are having a tougher time.

The Centre Party’s Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist gets 4 percent, while the Liberals’ Simona Mohamsson collects 3 percent of the votes. At the very bottom is the Green Party’s Daniel Helldén, with only 1 percent of Swedes wanting to share Christmas dinner with him – far below the so-called “Christmas celebration percentage threshold.”

Jimmy Sandell, head of communications and business policy at Livsmedelsföretagen, believes the results may be significant for the upcoming election campaign:

– Political parties regularly measure if their leaders are “well-liked” by voters. But a more telling question is which leader voters would actually want to go home to—specifically on Christmas Eve, our most family-oriented holiday. […] Policy substance is of course most important, but in a close election, a party leader’s popularity could tip the scale. The step from Christmas dinner winner to election winner may be a short one.

Clear differences by age and gender

Magdalena Andersson is the most appreciated Christmas dinner host in most age groups. The exception is people aged 50 to 64, where Jimmie Åkesson tops the list.

Looking at gender, larger differences are revealed. Among women, Andersson is completely dominant with 34 percent, while among men she stops at 20 percent. There, Åkesson is the most popular, with 28 percent.

At the same time, the figures show that it’s not a matter of simple gender patterns. Ebba Busch, for example, is significantly more appreciated among men (18 percent) than among women (10 percent).

The Christmas dinner’s dishes reflect the parties’ images

In the survey, Swedes were also asked to associate political parties with classic Christmas dishes. In many cases, the results match well-known images.

Pickled herring – which 92 percent of Swedes have on their Christmas table – is most strongly associated with the Social Democrats. The Moderates and Sweden Democrats are instead linked with pork ribs, while the Christian Democrats get the role as the party of lye-cured fish.

Rice pudding is associated with the Left Party and Centre Party. The Green Party, perhaps unsurprisingly, is linked to kale. According to Swedes, the Liberals’ most characteristic Christmas dish is mulled wine (glögg).

– There are many different ways to try to find out which way the political winds are blowing. You can, of course, ask outright which party a person will vote for. Another method is to use associative questions that more indirectly reveal how voters think. And that’s exactly what we did with our Christmas dish question.