Politics · Germany · 3 hrs ago
Poll finds half of CSU voters want Merz to resign
A GMS poll found 57% of respondents want German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to resign, while 32% oppose it.
Among voters for the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Merz’s CDU, 50% want him to leave office and 42% want him to stay.
The poll asked whether Merz should step down after setbacks to the coalition’s reform plans and state election results.
Relations between the CDU and CSU have sometimes been tense, but the CSU has traditionally backed a chancellor from the CDU.
The poll also found the CDU and CSU at 19% nationally, while in Bavaria the CSU was at 37%, with the AfD and Greens gaining support.
Merz is due to speak at the CSU party conference in Munich on Saturday, after CSU leader Markus Söder is expected to address the gathering on Friday.
A GMS poll for Sat.1 Bayern found that 50 percent of CSU voters want Chancellor Friedrich Merz to leave office, while 42 percent want him to stay.
Across all respondents, 57 percent said Merz should resign and 32 percent opposed his resignation.
The poll question cited setbacks in the governing coalition’s reform policies and state election results.
The poll also found the CSU at 37 percent in a hypothetical Bavarian state election, down two points from March.
The CSU’s two-day party conference begins Friday in Munich, with Merz scheduled to speak on Saturday morning.
- Who
- Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor, and voters surveyed by the GMS institute for Sat.1 Bayern.
- What
- The poll found that half of CSU voters want Merz to resign, while 42 percent want him to remain in office.
- When
- The article was published on October 19, 2026. The poll’s fieldwork dates are not stated.
- Where
- The poll was reported in Bavaria, Germany; the CSU party conference is to be held in Munich.
- Why
- The poll question cited setbacks in the governing coalition’s reform policies and state election results.
CSU voters favoring Merz’s resignation
CSU voters favoring Merz staying
Merz’s position
CSU voters favoring Merz’s resignation
50 percent of CSU voters said Merz should leave office.
CSU voters favoring Merz staying
42 percent of CSU voters said Merz should remain in office.
A previous poll put the CSU at two percentage points higher than its current 37 percent.
Bild published its report on the GMS poll for Sat.1 Bayern.
The two-day CSU party conference is due to begin in Munich, with Markus Söder’s address expected that day.
Merz is scheduled to speak at the CSU party conference.
- CSU voters favoring resignation
- 50 percent
- CSU voters favoring Merz staying
- 42 percent
- All respondents favoring resignation
- 57 percent
- CSU support in a hypothetical Bavarian election
- 37 percent
- AfD support in a hypothetical Bavarian election
- 22 percent
- Greens support in a hypothetical Bavarian election
- Up two percentage points, to a figure not stated
What people are saying
after the failures in the governing coalition’s reform policy and the results of the state elections, resign immediately