Up until recently it seemed a very safe bet that Angela Merkel would win another term as chancellor in September’s election, but more and more polling suggests otherwise.
The most recent poll by YouGov published on Monday showed that 64% of Germans are in favor of having a new chancellor after the election, German news website Thelocal.de reported.
A significant 42% said that after 12 years with Merkel in office, it is “definitely” time someone else took on the most important job in German politics. About 22% said it was “probably” time for a fresh face.
At the same time, 19% said it was “probably best” for Merkel to stay in the job. Only 8% said that she should definitely keep the job.
Even among supporters of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), 42% of respondents said they had had enough of Merkel.
Various polls have showed the race for the chancellorship tightening significantly over recent weeks, since the Social Democrats (SPD) chose Martin Schulz as their candidate.
Whereas in December the SPD were wallowing at historic lows of around 20% in polling, an INSA survey published on Monday put them at 31%, one percentage point ahead of CDU.
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