The German people are anything but satisfied with the current government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The national-conservative Alternative für Deutschland, which seeks to clean up after decades of damaging immigration policies, is doing much better.
In May 2025, Friedrich Merz was elected Chancellor of Germany. In the general election a few months earlier, Merz’s Christian Democrats became the largest party with 28.5 percent of the vote. AfD came in second place with just under 21 percent.
But now it is AfD that is in first place in yet another new poll — 27 percent, an increase of one percentage point compared to last month. Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc drops three percentage points to 23 percent, the lowest level in YouGov surveys since December 2021. The Social Democrats (SPD), Merz’s coalition partners, lose one percentage point down to 13 percent.
???????? A YouGov poll for Bundestag elections shows the AfD at historic levels of popularity, now four points ahead of the ruling CDU
Despite the lead, the so-called “firewall” against cooperation with AfD remains in place.
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Dissatisfaction with the coalition government is extensive. As many as 79 percent of respondents say that they are dissatisfied with its performance, compared to 55 percent in June 2025.
Other opinion polls have also shown AfD ahead. An INSA survey for the Sunday edition of the newspaper Bild showed the conservatives at 25 percent and AfD at 26 percent, while an Infratest dimap poll showed the opposite, with CDU/CSU at 26 percent and AfD at 25 percent.
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