Senior German Social Democrat urges party to tackle low poll numbers

A senior member of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) - the junior partner in the coalition government - has urged his party to communicate better as polls indicate it faces a poor result in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt. 

"The dissatisfaction within the SPD and the low poll numbers must be taken seriously by the party leadership," said Dietmar Woidke, state premier of the state of Brandenburg and a party stalwart for more than 30 years.

"Many people no longer recognize what the SPD stands for and what concrete difference social democratic policies make in their lives," Woidke told dpa this week, with his party's public support nationally at just 13%, according to a poll by Infratest dimap.

"The SPD doesn't need to completely reinvent itself in terms of policy. But it needs to communicate its position more clearly, concretely, and credibly," said Woidke, who also leads the party in Brandenburg. "Our strength lies in combining social justice and economic strength."

In government since 2025 with the CDU/CSU conservative bloc led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the SPD is at its lowest ebb in its entire 163-year existence. It achieved its highest level of public support in the 1972 West German federal election with 45.8% of the vote.

Disputes among the party's leaders have fuelled calls among the SPD grassroots for a new leadership election after the state elections in September.

On Sunday, a new parliament will be elected in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. On September 20, state elections in neighbouring Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the election for the Berlin House of Representatives will also take place.

Woidke expressed confidence ahead of the Saxony-Anhalt vote  - where the SPD is expected to win about 7-9% - that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) would not win an absolute majority there, despite its strong public support in the east.

"I am certain that the people of Saxony-Anhalt will show at the polling stations that they want security and stability, not division," said Woidke. "What the AfD is planning in its platform will harm the regional economy and harm the people."

The AfD is classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist party in Saxony-Anhalt, as it is in Brandenburg.