German conservatives closing gap with far-right AfD, poll shows

A new poll shows Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc closing the gap with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), though his coalition would still fall short of a majority if an election were held. 

The poll, conducted for public broadcaster ZDF and released on Friday, asked voters which party they would support if a federal election were held this Sunday.

The conservatives, comprising Merz's Christian Democrats and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), would improve their standing by two percentage points to 23%, according to the poll. The AfD would meanwhile lose two points to win 26% of the vote.

The conservatives' coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), would gain one point to reach 14%. The Greens would get 13%, while The Left would receive 11%, according to the poll. 

A separate poll published on Thursday by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily also showed the gap between the AfD and the CDU/CSU narrowing.

The ZDF survey was conducted among 1,225 randomly selected eligible voters from October 20 to 22.