Mood Swing in Favor of SPD Awaits Before Extraordinary Federal Party Convention on January 11
According to a new Yougov survey to be published on Friday, half of German voters view the participation of the SPD in a new federal government as negative (50%), while four out of ten view it as positive (41%). In contrast, 39% of voters see the participation of CDU/CSU as negative, and more than half (52%) as positive.
Almost half (46%) of those surveyed believe that the SPD bears the main responsibility for the current economic situation. At the same time, only about a quarter (28%) of respondents trust the SPD to be able to improve the economic situation in Germany.
The survey also shows that the SPD is not perceived as being particularly competent in the field of economics, with only 11% seeing the party as having the greatest competence in this area, a figure similar to that of the AfD (12%) and much lower than that of CDU/CSU (31%). Only a little more than a quarter (29%) of respondents believe that the SPD cares about people like them.
A striking finding is that only half (55%) of voters who voted for the SPD in the 2021 federal election believe that the party cares about people like them. At the same time, the SPD is also suffering from a loss of trust, which all parties involved in the traffic light coalition are facing: Only 39% of all respondents find the SPD trustworthy, 32% the Greens, and 24% the FDP. The Union, on the other hand, is considered trustworthy by almost half (48%) of the respondents.
Half of all voters perceive the SPD as “split” (51%), while only a third see it as “united” (35%). In comparison, only about a third (30%) of respondents perceive CDU/CSU as “split”, and half (55%) as “united”. The respondents evaluate the unity of the SPD in a similar way to the FDP (split: 48%, united: 32%).
Overall, four out of ten voters look at the German political situation with concern: 39% say that best describes how they feel when they think about politics in Germany. 15% feel frustrated, 12% excited, and 11% hopeful. Only 7% are optimistic, and another 7% are anxious.
The tone in politics also worries the voters: Nine out of ten (90%) think it is important for the election campaign to be fair (i.e., respectful and without personal insults and false information). Many currently see this expectation being violated: 37% perceive the current election campaign for the 2025 federal election as unfair. And more than half (55%) expect unfair methods like negative advertising to be used in the election campaign.
Voters primarily expect the AfD (59%) to engage in unfair behavior in the federal election campaign. More than a third of respondents also expect the FDP (39%), the Left (36%), and the Greens (35%) to engage in unfair behavior. CDU/CSU (30%) and SPD (29%) are least likely to be perceived as unfair.
The results of the “Sunday question” conducted by Yougov differ only slightly from those of other survey institutes, except that the Union is a point or two lower in the Yougov survey.
If the federal election were held on Sunday, 29% of respondents would vote for CDU/CSU (down from 30% in December 2024), the AfD would gain two percentage points to reach 21% (up from 19% in December 2024), and the SPD would drop to 16% (down from 18% in December 2024), with the Greens coming in third at 14% (up from 13% in December 2024).
The smaller parties are led by the BSW with 6% (down from 7% in December 2024) and the FDP with 5% (up from 4% in December 2024). The Left is still clearly below the 5% threshold with 3% (no change from December 2024). About 6% of respondents would vote for another party (no change from December 2024).
The Yougov survey was conducted from January 3 to 6, with a total of 2,246 eligible voters participating, of whom 1,908 made statements about their voting intentions.