Friedrich Merz might not have the best track record when it comes to being well-liked by the public. A recent poll showed that only 21% of people consider Germany’s new Chancellor a “strong leader.” Here’s what is causing the staggeringly low popularity ratings when it comes to the Chancellor-in-waiting.
Institute Forsa for Stern magazine conducted a poll that revealed Merz’s public perception. According to the poll conducted in April, 21% of the poll takers considered the 69-year-old to be a trustworthy leader. In August of 2025, 9 percent more polltakers found the politician to be trustworthy.
40% of the people who took the poll considered Merz to be a strong leader. 27% of the total respondents said the Chancellor-in-waiting “knows what moves people.” Both categories saw a 9 percent decrease from the previous poll conducted in January. 60% of the respondents surprisingly voted in favor of Merz speaking “understandably.”
Ursula Münch, who serves as the director of Tutzing Academy for Political Education in Bavaria, gave her two cents on Merz’s staggeringly low popularity. “The circumstances are very different than they used to be,” Münch told DW. She also noted that the government has a “relatively” small proportion of support amongst the current voters.
Münch’s statement perfectly describes the current turbulent German political landscape. Up until now, CDU/CSU and SPD have managed to represent around 80% of German voters in the form of a grand coalition. At the moment, several smaller parties are entering the political landscape.
I keep telling people that #Merz is unpopular, but especially abroad nobody believes me (or thinks I’m exaggerating). Today’s vote is a shock, but no surprise. Look at the last poll on politicians’ popularity from three days ago:#Germany pic.twitter.com/IgzKFrrVSt
— TheBossRoss 🇪🇺 🧶 ❄ 📷 6x💉 (@BettinaSRoss1) May 6, 2025
According to the result of the election that took place in February, the centrist parties now only represent 45% of the voters. That statistic alone will pose a challenge for Friedrich Merz and his term as the Chancellor.
Because of the fragmented landscape, it has become more difficult to represent the majority. In turn, it is also impossible to form a stable coalition and rule with majority support.
Not only is it going to be a task for the chancellor to gain support, but his recent moves might be causing his current supporters to lose faith as well. At the beginning of the year, Merz approved a CDU-led motion to be passed with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany. By doing so, he became the first CDU leader to, in a way, violate a key political rule.
New poll just came out, with a new high water mark for the AfD at 23,5 %
Not sure how everything will play out the next days or weeks, but Friedrich Merz is starting to look like the most incompetent German politician in living memory. pic.twitter.com/3RS0mYUvW1
— John Dory (@johndory1914) March 24, 2025
Merz had been very vocal about his disapproval of one thing, which ended up going back on recently. He approved the reform for the debt brake in March. The debt brake is a constitutional rule that keeps the government borrowing in check. By approving the reform.
Merz allowed the government to take out loans worth €1 trillion ($1.14 trillion). A Politbarometer poll showed that 73% of the public thought that Merz had deceived them by breaking his pre-election promise.
