The right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is soaring in the polls.
In the latest survey by pollster YouGov, published today, the right-wingers top the lists with 27 per cent of the vote, beating the Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz by 1 percentage point.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) got 15 per cent, the Greens 11 per cent and the hard-left Die Linke party was favoured by 9 per cent of respondents.
The 27 per cent share of the YouGov poll is the biggest the AfD has ever had in a German poll for a hypothetical general election.
In the February 2025 general election, the right-wingers got 20.8 per cent of the vote while the CDU reached 28.5 per cent.
BUNDESTAGSWAHL | Sonntagsfrage YouGov
AfD: 27% (+2)
Union: 26% (-1)
SPD: 15% (+1)
GRÜNE: 11% (-1)
LINKE: 9% (-1)
BSW: 5%
FDP: 4% (+1)
Sonstige: 4%Änderungen zur letzten Umfrage vom 20. August 2025
Verlauf: https://t.co/f9MV7iZG8h#btw29 pic.twitter.com/fJVXNm1x0h
— Deutschland Wählt (@Wahlen_DE) September 17, 2025
In the seven months since the election, though, Merz and his CDU have rapidly lost voter support. Merz, unwilling to break his party’s self-imposed ban on cooperating with AfD, entered a coalition with the only other available partner, the Social Democrats (SPD).
At the mercy of his left-wing junior partner, the Chancellor and his party colleagues have had to row back on many of the promises that won them the election.
That has included bringing down the price of electricity and reforming the costly and suffocating German welfare state.
In the absence of serious reforms, the German economy has also not shown any signs of revitalisation, with GDP growth flatlining and unemployment surpassing the three-million-mark.
As of early September, a full 75 per cent of Germans were dissatisfied with Merz’ government.
In the debate on the federal budget in the Bundestag today, AfD leader Alice Weidel accused Merz of duping his voters, saying: “You have broken every single election promise … Return to nuclear power: promised before the election, cancelled in the coalition agreement.
“Reduction of electricity taxes: Promised in the coalition agreement, and immediately thrown out the window.”
Merz, who followed Weidel at the lectern, once more promised bold reforms for this autumn: “The decisions that lie ahead of us are not about details, but about very fundamental issues,” he said.
“They are about nothing less than the future of our country – how we live, how we live together, how we work, how we do business, and whether our values will continue to endure.”
Merz remained vague, though, and did not mention any specific plans for reforms.
In the past weeks, it was mainly his coalition partner, the SPD, that made headlines with plan after plan after plan for tax hikes.
