In the latest INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag, the AfD has risen to 28 per cent and extended its lead over the CDU/CSU to four points. Merz is thus becoming a problem for his own party: he set out to win back the centre-right vote but is increasingly becoming a liability for the CDU/CSU.
The new INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag confirms the AfD’s upward trend – and the CDU/CSU’s downward spiral under the leaden-footed Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The AfD now stands at 28 per cent, reaching a new high in this survey. The CDU/CSU has fallen back to 24 per cent and has thus not only been overtaken by a significant margin, but left clearly behind.
For Friedrich Merz, this is yet another damning verdict. He had set out to lead the CDU/CSU out of the chaos caused by the ‘traffic light’ coalition, to rally the centre-right camp and to cut the ground from under the AfD’s feet – in his own words, to halve its support. In reality, the exact opposite is happening. The Union continues to lose ground; Merz has settled into the role of second-in-command behind Klingbeil and, in the public eye, is ceding the leadership role to the battered SPD – whilst the AfD pulls ahead. The gap is widening, and with it, the impression is growing week by week that the CDU under Merz may be governing, but it is not leading.
Voters can see very clearly what this government delivers and what it does not. They see a Union that announced a major change of direction and then, in the day-to-day business of government, sinks back into the old German timidity. They see a Chancellery that touts its claim to renewal but has delivered the exact opposite on all key points. This is precisely what the AfD thrives on. It doesn’t need to invent anything new. It is enough that the competition is reneging on its own promises.