Almost two-fifths of Czechs declare themselves to be politically oriented to the right, while roughly one-quarter of Czechs are left-leaning, according to a recent survey by the Centre for Public Opinion Research (CVVM) released yesterday.
Around 28% of respondents declared themselves to be in what they considered the centre, and under 10% were unable to classify themselves. The share of left-leaning people has started to rise in the last year, while the share of right-leaning people has fallen.
“From 2013 to 2020, the share of left-leaning representation steadily declined from an all-time high of more than two-fifths to an all-time low below the one-quarter level, where it then levelled off and began to rise slightly in the past year,” said CVVM. “By contrast, the representation of the right has been rising intermittently over the past decade, but the current survey shows some decline.”
In the current survey, the share of those who say they are on the right or the centre-right has fallen below 40%, which, according to the authors, is only the second time this has happened since the end of 2021. In 2016 and 2017, and again during 2019, the proportion at the centre increased at the expense of the declining share on the left, but in the last three years this trend has gone back in the other direction.
Voters of the Communist Party (KSCM) are most likely to report themselves on the left side of the spectrum, with a slight predominance of left-wing over right-wing orientation also among ANO voters. Voters of Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) are practically evenly represented in the left and right part of the spectrum, with a relatively high representation in the centre.
Supporters of the Spolu coalition in particular have a strong right-wing orientation. A slight right-wing orientation prevails among those who vote for the Mayors and Independents (STAN) or Pirates.
Voters with a poor standard of living and elderly voters lean towards the left, while those who are left of centre are also more represented among those with vocational training and people with a secondary education but without a high-school diploma. In terms of gender, self-identification to the extreme right was significantly more common among men. “Women were more likely to be assigned to the middle of the scale and had a higher proportion of undecided responses,” the survey found.
The survey was conducted from 15 March to 2 June, with 951 respondents over 15.
