The Centre Party strengthened its position behind the top three with a surge of 1.1 points to 12.9 per cent – the highest reading for the agrarian centre-right party in more than two years.

Chairperson Antti Kaikkonen told Helsingin Sanomat after the poll results were published that his encounters with members of the public had left him with an inkling that the party is regarded more favourably than in recent years.

He stressed the need to not read too much into the results.

“It’s no use becoming rumbustious, or to become demoralised, over a single poll result,” he said to the daily newspaper. “The trust is of course heart-warming.”

Kaikkonen, who took over at the helm of the Centre in June, estimated that the centre-right party has struggled to make gains in the past couple of years due to a political climate that has placed emphasis on divisions.

“The kind of more moderate examination of issues from centre field, that hasn’t really generated headlines or support,” he analysed.

Elsewhere, the Left Alliance saw its popularity creep up by 0.1 points to 10.1 per cent. The Green League dropped 0.2 points to fall to 8.0 per cent and the Swedish People’s Party 0.3 points to fall to 4.3 per cent. The Christian Democratic Party made the second biggest gains in the poll, climbing from 3.8 to 4.2 per cent.

Support for Movement Now stayed unchanged at 2.2 per cent.

Verian interviewed 2,542 people for the poll between 15 July and 16 August. The results have a margin of error of 2.0 percentage points.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT