United Russia's rating hits 14-year low

The United Russia rating has reached its lowest in 14 years: according to VTsIOM, only 32.2% of Russians surveyed would vote for the party now. The previous low was recorded immediately after the VAT increase in January 2019, when the rating was 32.3%, Vedomosti writes .

• The party's rating fell sharply in June 2018 after the announcement of pension reform: from 48% to 39%.
• In the gubernatorial elections in September 2018, candidates from the ruling party had problems getting elected in a number of regions (Primorsky Krai, Vladimir Oblast, the Republic of Khakassia). Half of the pro-Kremlin candidates for the post of heads of regions (8 out of 16) are running as independent candidates in the 2019 elections. Candidates for the Moscow City Duma are also disavowing their ties to United Russia: the party has not officially nominated a single person.
• On July 1, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev published a column in which he acknowledged a lack of trust in the party.
• Today, Bloomberg named one of the elements of the plan that will allow Vladimir Putin to remain in power after 2024 as increasing the share of State Duma deputies elected by districts, rather than party lists, to 75%. This way, pro-Kremlin candidates will be nominally considered independent and will be more likely to be re-elected.