According to a Yougov survey, the leaders of the Bundestag parties are hardly fit for the chancellor’s office, including the incumbent head of government Olaf Scholz (SPD). Only 29 percent of almost 2,400 participants called Scholz suitable, 58 percent unsuitable. The institute determined the values on behalf of the German Press Agency. Almost all other top politicians surveyed were even worse, with the exception of CSU boss Markus Söder: 36 percent called him suitable, 48 percent unsuitable.
Recently, several other surveys had shown voters’ great distrust in the functioning of democracy and the state. Yougov presented 2,387 eligible voters over the age of 18 with a list of nine well-known politicians from the SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, FDP, AfD and Left parties represented in the Bundestag and asked whether they were suitable or unsuitable for the chancellorship.
The comparison of the possible Union chancellor candidates is clear: Söder, currently Prime Minister of Bavaria, is not only at the top of all nine top politicians surveyed, but also clearly ahead of CDU leader Friedrich Merz. 25 percent of those surveyed named this as suitable and 56 percent as unsuitable. Even among the CDU/CSU supporters surveyed, less than half saw Merz as suitable, namely 46 percent. Söder achieved 60 percent in his own camp.
The other values: Among all respondents, the Greens politician and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called 26 percent suitable and 60 percent unsuitable. For Economics Minister Robert Habeck (also Greens), 23 percent said suitable and 63 percent unsuitable. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) finds 22 percent suitable for the chancellery, 60 percent unsuitable.
Significantly more support from party supporters
Also 22 percent of those surveyed found the AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel suitable as chancellor, 64 percent considered her unsuitable. With AfD co-boss Tino Chrupalla, the ratio is 17 to 65 percent. In front of them is the left-wing member of the Bundestag Sahra Wagenknecht, who 24 percent of all respondents consider suitable and 58 percent unsuitable.
All of the people surveyed have much more support among the supporters of their own party, albeit to different extents. 56 percent of those surveyed who voted for the SPD in 2021 find the incumbent Chancellor Scholz suitable for the office. 62 percent of the Greens supporters find Baerbock suitable, with Habeck it is 60 percent in their own camp. FDP boss Lindner finds 50 percent of the Liberal voters suitable.
Weidel (suitable: 83 percent) and Chrupalla (66 percent) achieve top values in their own party. Wagenknecht has higher values among the AfD supporters surveyed (suitable: 51 percent) than among supporters of the left (49 percent). However, Yougov points out that the group of left-wing supporters surveyed is very small and this individual value is therefore only of limited significance.
Officially, no party has yet named a candidate for chancellor in the next federal election, which is scheduled to take place in 2025. The left was asked about Wagenknecht because it is far better known than the two federal chairmen Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan. However, Wagenknecht is considering starting her own party and has stated that she no longer wants to run for Die Linke.
