Union loses, Merz loses even more
The Union parties give up one point, but remain by far the strongest party in the trend barometer. CDU leader Merz has lost his lead over Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the chancellor question.
In the weekly trend barometer of RTL and ntv, the Union loses another percentage point. Both the FDP and the Left also lose one point each, while the SPD gains one point. The other parties together gain a total of two points compared to the previous week.
If the Bundestag were to be elected this week, the parties could expect the following results: CDU/CSU 30 percent, AfD 17 percent, SPD 15 percent, Greens 11 percent, BSW 7 percent, FDP 4 percent, Left 3 percent. The other parties together account for 13 percent. The share of non-voters and undecided voters increases to 21 percent, but remains below the share of non-voters in the last federal election (23.4 percent).
If the Federal Chancellor were to be elected directly by the voters, 27 percent would currently opt for either SPD incumbent Olaf Scholz or CDU leader Friedrich Merz. In the previous week, Merz had 29 percent, Scholz 26 percent. Currently, 46 percent of voters want neither Merz nor Scholz as Chancellor.
Despite the tie, it is notable that Scholz's support among SPD supporters is significantly higher at 71 percent compared to Merz's 61 percent among Union supporters. It is also striking that support for Merz is three percentage points lower than support for the Union parties. Support for Scholz, on the other hand, is significantly higher than for the SPD.
Unchanged, 20 percent of Germans still trust the Union the most to tackle problems in Germany. The SPD is trusted by 9 percent - a two-point increase from the previous week. A total of 51 percent trust no party to solve Germany's problems.
The data for the RTL/ntv trend barometer were collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Germany between July 23 and 29. Sample size: 2501 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: plus/minus 2.5 percentage points.
For more information about Forsa, click here. Forsa polls on behalf of RTL Germany.
In the RTL/ntv trend barometer, CSU, being a part of the Union, shares a similar trend with CDU, losing one point compared to the previous week. Despite this decline, CSU still maintains a significant presence with 7% of voters trusting them to solve Germany's problems.
The Union parties, including CSU, are projected to secure 30% of the votes in a hypothetical Bundestag election, placing them as the strongest party in the polls.
