The National Coalition Party (NCP) remains the most popular party in Finland, according to the July poll of voter opinion carried out by Finland's largest circulation daily Helsingin Sanomat. While the centre-right opposition party saw a slight drop in support, it still enjoys a clear lead.

The poll, released on Saturday, showed support for the NCP at 23.9 percent.

Compared with the June HS poll, in which the NPC saw their support reach a record high of 24.4 percent, the current result is half a percentage point lower. The NCP's previous five percent lead over the Social Democratic Party (SDP) also narrowed by one percentage point compared to June.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin's party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), came second in the latest poll, garnering 19.9 percent support.

A total of 53.6 percent of the public now support the parties forming the coalition government, an increase of almost one percentage point since June, when the figure was 52.7 percent.

The most significant change was seen in the Green Party's support, which increased by 0.9 percentage points from June.

The Left Alliance support came in at 7.7 percent, while the Swedish People's Party of Finland (RKP) had 4.6 percent.

There was a 0.2 percentage point rise in support for the Finns Party, the third highest-rated party, to 14.7 percent. Support for the party however still falls far short of last year's 20 percent voter backing.

Among the remainder of the parties, the Christian Democrats (CD) tallied at 3.6 percent while Movement Now had 2.2 percent.