The SPD achieved its worst result in the European elections. According to a survey, a majority of party members believe that another candidate for chancellor would have better chances in the federal election.
According to a Forsa survey, only a third of SPD members believe that Chancellor Olaf Scholz should again be the party’s candidate for chancellor in the 2025 federal election. 67 percent of respondents expressed the opinion that the SPD would have a better chance of achieving a good result with a different candidate for chancellor, according to the survey by the opinion research institute for the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
A third of SPD members believe that the party would have better chances with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. The SPD achieved its worst result in a nationwide election in the European elections at the beginning of June, with 13.9 percent.
For the survey, Forsa interviewed 1,001 SPD members, who, according to the institute, represent a representative cross-section of the SPD membership. According to its own information, the party had a total of 365,190 members at the turn of the year. The survey took place between July 8 and 12, 2024, i.e. after the traffic light leaders had agreed on the key points of the budget for 2025.
According to Forsa, the survey of a representative cross-section of SPD members is possible because Forsa’s continuous investigation of the political mood, in which over 120,000 eligible voters are surveyed each year, also asks whether they are a member of a party. This meant that respondents who are members of the SPD and who had given their permission to be surveyed again were able to be surveyed again.
Scholz himself is firmly convinced that he will be a candidate for chancellor again in next year’s federal election. In an ARD interview in June, when asked whether he was sure that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for chancellor in light of the criticism, he answered with a brief “yes”. After the European elections, Lower Saxony’s SPD Prime Minister Stephan Weil said that Scholz was “undisputed as number one” in the party. In his opinion, “all relevant parts of the SPD” agreed “that we will go into the next election campaign with Olaf Scholz”.
Party in serious crisis – or just a dip in mood?
When asked whether the SPD was in a serious crisis or whether it was just a temporary dip in mood, 51 percent said the party was in a serious crisis. 46 percent saw a temporary dip in mood.
A majority of 55 percent of SPD members believe that their party should pursue a political center course. 43 percent, however, believe it would be better if the SPD were to give itself a more left-wing political profile again.
When it comes to the work of the party leadership, 55 percent of SPD members said they were very satisfied or satisfied with Scholz (45 percent less or not at all satisfied). The vast majority of SPD members (79 percent) are satisfied with the work of Lars Klingbeil as SPD chairman. 20 percent of members are less or not at all satisfied.
Only a small minority of 12 percent of SPD members believe that the SPD could achieve a result of over 25 percent in the next federal election, as in 2021. 37 percent expect that the party could achieve a result between 20 and 25 percent; half of SPD members, however, expect a result of less than 20 percent in the next federal election.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
