Elections pass – ratings remain

Political scientists Alexey Martynov and Pavel Danilin presented on Tuesday the next edition of the “Utility Coefficient of State Duma Deputies” rating. According to them, he was greatly influenced by the presidential elections: the candidates from the “New People” and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Vladislav Davankov and Nikolai Kharitonov, “rushed” into the top three. Also, according to the authors of the rating, deputies who are in one way or another connected with a special military operation (SVO) or involved in preparations for the regional elections on September 8 retain good positions.

The utility coefficient of deputies consists of four components. These are the “people’s rating” (compiled based on voting data on the website “Deputy.club”), activity rating (based on data from the Duma apparatus), media rating (based on the results of monitoring the media and social networks) and expert rating (based on performance assessments deputies by leading regional and federal experts). State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and the leaders of five parliamentary factions are not included in the rating.

The study, presented on April 16 to TASS, was conducted from January to April 2024. The first place in the ranking was taken by the presidential candidate from the New People party, vice-speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov, the second place was taken by the head of the Duma Committee on Information Policy Alexander Khinshtein (United Russia, United Russia), and the third place was taken by the chairman nominated for president from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Duma Committee for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Nikolai Kharitonov. And if Mr. Khinshtein was in the same position in the last edition of the rating, then the ex-presidential candidates, according to experts, literally “burst” into the top three, displacing prominent United Russia members – the head of the Duma Committee on State Construction Pavel Krasheninnikov and Vice Speaker Anna Kuznetsova (previously they occupied the first and third positions, respectively).

However, Alexey Martynov doubted that the ex-presidential candidates would “stay long” as leaders, although Vladislav Davankov, in his assessment, “increased his political capital.” In the previous rating, he occupied a fairly high 21st place, which was again facilitated by his participation in the 2023 Moscow mayoral elections. Nikolai Kharitonov was only in 135th position the previous time. Pavel Danilin admitted that now the ex-candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was deservedly in third place, because “despite the comical nature of his election campaign, it had a good media impact.”

Experts noted that the growth was demonstrated not only by the candidates themselves, but also by deputies who took an active part in the presidential campaign. For example, Yuri Afonin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) moved from 35th place to 17th. United Russia members involved in Vladimir Putin’s campaign also rose in the rankings: Alexander Sidyakin and Natalya Orlova now occupy 93rd and 96th places, and last time they were in 201st and 184th places. But Deputy Speaker Boris Chernyshov (LDPR), who ran for the post of mayor of Moscow in September 2023, was in 13th place in the previous rating, but has now slipped to 84th.

Strong positions are also maintained by those deputies who are in one way or another connected with the SVO: either they promote bills on measures to support soldiers and their families, or they themselves are on the front line. Thus, the Chairman of the Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov (ER) dropped from fourth place to sixth only because of the appearance of Messrs. Davankov and Kharitonov in the top three. The deputies who personally went to the front are also in fairly confident positions, despite the low activity in the State Duma. Thus, Vitaly Milonov ranks 28th, Adam Delimkhanov – 31st, Dmitry Khubezov – 58th, Dmitry Sablin – 63rd, Alexander Borodai – 87th (all United Russia members).

Anatoly Vyborny (ER) moved from 18th place to 9th. Experts attribute this to his initiatives expressed after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, in particular with the proposal to introduce blocking on social networks of videos demonstrating murders, torture or scenes of violence.

According to political scientists, the upcoming election campaign also has an impact on the rating. Thus, good positions are maintained by United Russia members who are responsible in the party for preparing for the Unified State Duma: Evgeniy Revenko (39th), Olga Kazakova (66th) and Olga Timofeeva (67th). Dmitry Gusev (“A Just Russia – For Truth”), who participated in the elections for the mayor of Moscow, was in 6th place in the previous ranking, and now in 8th: according to experts, the organization of party primaries for the selection helped him maintain a high result candidates for the Moscow City Duma.

As Pavel Danilin noted, the parliamentarians in the last 250 seats show “only small glimpses of activity.” “As the elections approach, many deputies who do not see themselves in the new convocation stop working,” the political scientist believes. Alexey Martynov, in turn, recalled that ahead is the State Duma’s approval of a new government, which will give people’s representatives “huge space for opportunities to express themselves,” and their efforts will be reflected in the next rating.

Ksenia Veretennikova