Survey: Majority thinks Angela Merkel is better suited than Friedrich Merz

Every second person believes that former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) would be better suited to solving today's problems than incumbent Friedrich Merz (also CDU). In a YouGov survey commissioned by the German Press Agency, 48 percent of respondents said this.

29 percent thought Merkel would be just as good or bad as Merz. Only eight percent saw Merkel as less suitable than Merz. 15 percent did not provide any information or did not trust themselves to answer.

The background is the very weak approval ratings for Merz. The CDU leader is struggling with his coalition partner, the SPD, to find solutions for, among other things, care, pension and tax reforms. During her 16 years in office, Merkel also governed mostly with the SPD. She left office in 2021.

YouGov asked 2,072 adults on Friday: "Do you think that Angela Merkel, as Chancellor, would be better, worse or just as capable of solving today's problems and challenges in Germany as the current Chancellor Friedrich Merz?" The results were weighted and are representative of the German population aged 18 and over. The error tolerance is up to 2.15 percentage points.