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SPD support slightly drops in new poll

Rebecca Staudenmaier
February 26, 2017

For the first time since Martin Schulz was named as the SPD's candidate for chancellor, the party has lost momentum in an opinion poll. The SPD has dropped one point, while support for the CDU and AfD held steady.

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Arbeitnehmerkonferenz mit Martin Schulz
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch

Backing for Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) dipped slightly for the first time since it chose former European Parliament President Martin Schulz as its candidate to run for the chancellorship, the "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper reported on Sunday.

The weekly "Sonntagstrend" survey conducted by the Emnid polling institute showed that the SPD fell one point down to 32 percent.

Despite the drop, the poll showed that the SPD was still neck and neck with the conservative bloc comprised of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Support for the CDU/CSU bloc remained constant compared to the previous week at 32 percent.

Ratings for the populist, anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party remained unchanged at 9 percent. Likewise, support for the Left party and the Greens stayed constant at 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Only the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) improved, moving up one point to 7 percent.

'Schulz effect' in decline?

Despite the SPD's recent wave of support in the wake of Schulz's nomination, a majority of people surveyed do not believe that the SPD politician will oust current German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the general elections in the fall.

According to the poll, 50 percent doubt that he will make it to the chancellery while 36 percent firmly believe he will not.

In a possible sign that the "Schulz effect" may be losing steam, 57 percent found Schulz's campaign promise to support "hard-working people" to be "untrustworthy," while 36 percent said that they trusted his statement.

German federal elections are scheduled for September 24 this year.