A dent in political credibility can cost parties in Denmark thousands of votes, researcher warns
Credibility plays a role when it comes to politicians' likelihood of being elected. Therefore, it is not surprising that the recent coverage of Danish Conservative Party leader Søren Pape Poulsen's private life affected opinion poll figures.
Kasper Møller Hansen, an election researcher at the University of Copenhagen, warns that a dent in political credibility can hit a party hard on election day – especially if it's the leader's credibility.
"It may affect many (voters) in the short term. However, in the end, the policy is still the most important thing for the vast majority of voters," he says.
According to the latest political opinion poll conducted by the analysis institute Voxmeter for Ritzau, the Conservatives have 11.4 percent of the vote.
That is a significant drop from the 16.2 percent of the vote that the party had in a poll on September 5.
Media attention
According to Møller Mortensen, part of the decrease is probably due to the fact that there have been many articles in the media about the Conservative Party's leader.
Recently, many media reports focused on Pape's private life, several indiscretions, and the fact that he referred to Greenland as "Africa on ice."
Since then, Pape Poulsen has apologized to the Greenlandic member of parliament, Aaja Chemnitz, for his statements about Greenland, according to Ekstra Bladet.
The coverage has clearly hurt the Conservatives, Møller Hansen says.
When it comes to the credibility of politicians, hypocrisy can be very damaging when it comes to reputation - especially in cases that can be linked to one's politics.
For example, if a transport minister is caught driving too fast, or if a politician eagerly talks about sending children to public schools but sends their own children to a private school, that can be perceived as hypocritical, the election researcher says.
"It may take some time before you win back what (note: the credibility) you lost," he adds.
The case of Løkke Rasmussen
Kasper Møller Hansen highlights the case of the former Liberal Party leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who got in trouble in 2014-2015 in a spending scandal regarding clothing bought for him by his political party.
"In that case, we could actually see that up to 200,000 votes could be attributed to the weakened credibility that Løkke had in the eyes of the voters," the election researcher says.
The scandal's effect was reflected in the subsequent measurements of the party's and party leader's credibility.
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Kasper Møller Hansen, an election researcher at the University of Copenhagen, warns that a dent in political credibility can hit a party hard on election day – especially if it's the leader's credibility.
"It may affect many (voters) in the short term. However, in the end, the policy is still the most important thing for the vast majority of voters," he says.
According to the latest political opinion poll conducted by the analysis institute Voxmeter for Ritzau, the Conservatives have 11.4 percent of the vote.
That is a significant drop from the 16.2 percent of the vote that the party had in a poll on September 5.
Media attention
According to Møller Mortensen, part of the decrease is probably due to the fact that there have been many articles in the media about the Conservative Party's leader.
Recently, many media reports focused on Pape's private life, several indiscretions, and the fact that he referred to Greenland as "Africa on ice."
Since then, Pape Poulsen has apologized to the Greenlandic member of parliament, Aaja Chemnitz, for his statements about Greenland, according to Ekstra Bladet.
The coverage has clearly hurt the Conservatives, Møller Hansen says.
When it comes to the credibility of politicians, hypocrisy can be very damaging when it comes to reputation - especially in cases that can be linked to one's politics.
For example, if a transport minister is caught driving too fast, or if a politician eagerly talks about sending children to public schools but sends their own children to a private school, that can be perceived as hypocritical, the election researcher says.
"It may take some time before you win back what (note: the credibility) you lost," he adds.
The case of Løkke Rasmussen
Kasper Møller Hansen highlights the case of the former Liberal Party leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who got in trouble in 2014-2015 in a spending scandal regarding clothing bought for him by his political party.
"In that case, we could actually see that up to 200,000 votes could be attributed to the weakened credibility that Løkke had in the eyes of the voters," the election researcher says.
The scandal's effect was reflected in the subsequent measurements of the party's and party leader's credibility.
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