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Germany's Social Democrats hit highest in Forsa poll since October 2012

REUTERS

 

Journalists during news conference of new Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz at their party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) polled 31 percent in a survey on Wednesday, benefiting from a surge in support since nominating Martin Schulz as leader and narrowing the gap to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

 

The poll for Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL, published just over seven months before federal elections, was the first by the Forsa institute to give the SPD above 30 percent since October 2012.

 

Merkel's conservative bloc, made up of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), lost 1 percentage point to 34 percent.

 

The SPD gained 5 points from the previous Forsa survey.

 

The poll showed as many Germans would vote for Schulz, who was previously European Parliament president, as for Merkel if there were a direct vote for chancellor, with both on 37 percent.

 

The SPD, Merkel's junior coalition partner, has been trailing the conservatives for years in opinion polls and last won an election under Gerhard Schroeder in 2002.

 

On Monday a different poll showed the SPD would beat Merkel's conservatives had an election been held that day.

 

But Forsa head Manfred Guellner said: "We're not yet seeing such a decisive mood for change as we did in 1998 when Gerhard Schroeder was able to score points due to widespread weariness after 16 years of Helmut Kohl," he said.

 

Schroeder was German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, replacing the CDU's Helmut Kohl, who was elected West German Chancellor in 1982 and remained leader of a reunified country until 1998.

 

The Forsa poll put the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in third place on 10 percent while the Greens and the far-left Linke were on 8 percent each.

 

The federal election is due on Sept. 24 and Merkel reiterated on Tuesday that it would be the "toughest that I have ever experienced".

 

The poll of 2,501 people was conducted between Jan. 30 and Feb. 3.

 

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; editing by John Stonestreet)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-08

[Ralf61]

Highest in poll? Like Hillary?

[lungmi]

5 hours ago, Ralf61 said:

Highest in poll? Like Hillary?

we are in Germany

[TommyUK1960]

Polls are a laugh. Before Brexit they claimed the polls showed the re-mainers winning, Got it totally wrong.

Before the US presidential election they said Crooked Hillary was going to win. Donald Trump won.

As for Germany they need a big shake up after having crazy Merkel run the country into the ground with the Migrant invasion.

[Baerboxer]

14 hours ago, TommyUK1960 said:

Polls are a laugh. Before Brexit they claimed the polls showed the re-mainers winning, Got it totally wrong.

Before the US presidential election they said Crooked Hillary was going to win. Donald Trump won.

As for Germany they need a big shake up after having crazy Merkel run the country into the ground with the Migrant invasion.

 

The problem is Schulz is even loopier than Merkel. Although you're right, based on recent results elsewhere that isn't a barrier to victory!

 

 

[micmichd]

16 hours ago, lungmi said:

we are in Germany

There's 3 parties that have a parliamentary majority in German Bundestag right now. They could go for "konstruktives Misstrauensvotum" and get rid of Angela Merkel, and elect Martin Schulz as new Chancellor, even without new elections. 

[smudger1951]

History shows Germany manages to elect any number of crazed people as their leader.

[Saradoc1972]

Forsa polls should always be read with a grain of caution, their CEO Manfed Guellner is an SPD member and a bit controversial. A lot of opinion for somebody who should find out about opinions in the first place. Forsa polls get regularly published in exactly the two media quoted above. Stern Gagazine is a high gloss tabloid, it was them who delighted us with the Hitler diaries, RTL... well, middle of the road somewhere. Polls by Forsa regularly show one party soaring, often enough the SPD, another on the way down. It's interpretation, it's not outright lying.

 

Whether that poll really showed people were, at that point in time, rather going to vote SPD is again open to interpretation, to my mind it rather showed how fed up they had become with the fat one, SPD Vice Chancellor Gabriel, widely seen as a dud and inept, the one calling protesters against the refugee wave  "rabble". Has fallen cushy so far, became foreign minister and is going on about how that would enable him to have more of a family life. Right.