Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ policy announcements at last weekend’s Thessaloniki International Fair appear aimed at winning back roughly 1 million voters New Democracy has lost since the 2023 election, according to internal government polling comparing 2023 exit poll data with recent surveys conducted before the summer recess.
The ruling party’s support among self-employed professionals, numbering about 900,000, fell from 52% in 2023 to 30%, a drop attributed largely to a controversial “tekmarto,” or imputed, income tax – losses of roughly 200,000 voters the fair’s gradual tax rollback targets.
Among farmers, whose ranks exceed 500,000, support collapsed from nearly 48% to around 20% following the OPEKEPE agricultural subsidy scandal, a loss of about 140,000 voters.
Support among Greece’s 2.5 million pensioners slipped from 50% to 38%, a loss of 300,000, which the government hopes to offset with a promised €400 payment.
Among the country’s 2.2 million private-sector employees, support fell from 35% to 20%, a loss of about 330,000 voters the government is courting with a planned 0.5 percentage point cut to worker insurance contributions starting April 2027.
