(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gained further ground on conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz in a new opinion poll, drawing close to his main challenger ahead of February’s snap election.
Asked to choose between the Social Democrat incumbent and Merz, who heads the CDU/CSU alliance, 43% of voters picked Scholz, up from 37% in October, according to the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen survey for public broadcaster ZDF published Friday. Merz scored 45%, down from 48% in October.
Although Scholz has gained some ground on Merz in a head-to-head comparison, polls show that backing for the CDU/CSU is still about twice as strong as for the chancellor’s SPD.
The conservatives lead at around 32%, the far-right Alternative for Germany is second with about 18% and the SPD third at 16%, according to a polling average calculated by Bloomberg.
The Greens are fourth with 13.5% and the BSW — a new far-left party founded in January — fifth at 6%. The Free Democrats remain in danger of missing the 5% threshold for getting into parliament at 4%.
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation
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