Alexander Stubb (NCP) took the top spot in the latest presidential candidate support poll by rural-focused newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus (MT).
Published on Thursday, the survey found 24 percent of respondents supported Stubb while his closest competitor, Pekka Haavisto, backed by a voters' association and the Green Party, received support of 21 percent.
Fifteen percent of respondents chose the Finns Party's candidate Jussi Halla-aho, while 12 percent supported Olli Rehn, who's backed by a voters' association and the Centre Party.
Support for the remainder of the nine candidates running for Finland's top political post were in the single digits. The Social Democrats' Jutta Urpilainen and Li Andersson from the Left Alliance each received support from seven percent of respondents.
Voters' association-backed Mika Aaltola and the Christian Democrats' candidate Sari Essayah each received two percent support, while the Movement Now candidate, Harry 'Hjallis' Harkimo received support from one percent of those surveyed.
Advance voting in the presidential election began on Wednesday. The first round's election day is on Sunday, 28 January. If no single candidate gains 50 percent or more of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates will go to a second round run-off on 11 February.
Election related stories — including profiles of each candidate — can be found here.
Yle News published "A really simple guide to Finland's 2024 presidential election", which includes information about the election and offers some insight about its history.
The MT-commissioned survey was carried out by data analytics firm Kantar Agri during 12-17 January. More than one thousand people aged between 18-79 took part in the poll, which had a three percentage point margin of error in either direction.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
