Politics

Germany's SPD faces existential crisis ahead of state elections

The center-left Social Democratic Party has fallen to historically low polls as critics blame federal compromise under the CDU coalition.

Updated Sep 1, 2026 · 12:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) is polling at roughly 12% nationally, a historical low that has triggered internal panic and calls for leadership restructuring.
As a junior partner under CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the party's compromises on pension reforms, housing benefit cuts, and migration policies have alienated its working-class base.
A series of upcoming state elections in September could accelerate the party's decline, particularly in Saxony-Anhalt where the SPD is polling under 10%.

The SPD is polling at approximately 12% nationwide and recently registered its worst postwar result in Baden-Württemberg.[Deutsche Welle]
In Saxony-Anhalt, the SPD is polling at just 7% to 8%, raising concerns it may not cross the 5% parliamentary threshold, while the Alternative for Germany (AfD) leads at 42%.[Deutsche Welle]
The SPD lost its 35-year grip on power in Rhineland-Palatinate earlier this year, falling behind the center-right CDU.[Deutsche Welle]
Internal critics, including the Working Group on Migration and Diversity, are demanding a special party conference and leadership changes, targeting party leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil.[Deutsche Welle]
Working-class and unemployed voters have increasingly defected to the right-wing AfD; pollsters reported that by late 2025/early 2026, the AfD commanded far higher support among workers than the SPD.[Deutsche Welle]

It remains to be seen whether the SPD's leadership will capitulate to internal demands for a special autumn conference, and whether the party will drop below the 5% threshold in the upcoming Saxony-Anhalt election.[Deutsche Welle]