Overview

• INSA’s 19–22 September snapshot puts AfD at 26% to the Union’s 24.5%, with the SPD on 14.5%, Greens at 11%, and the Left at 11.5%; Union and SPD together reach about 39%, short of a majority.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz drops to 18th in the national politician ranking with a 35.5 approval score, while AfD co-leader Alice Weidel climbs to 10th.
• Markus Söder urges a hard political confrontation with the AfD, calling it a “right-extreme cadre party,” and reiterates that coalitions or cooperation with it are off the table.
• The INSA survey questioned 2,002 people online and reports a maximum margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points, underscoring that the figures are a short-term snapshot.
• Other recent polls point in the same direction, with Forsa measuring the AfD at 27% and YouGov also showing the party overtaking the Union.