Olaf Scholz can’t catch a break. The German chancellor started the week on a high after his SPD party won the state elections in Brandenburg by the skin of their teeth. But any illusion that Scholz had won a reprieve from criticism has been brutally crushed. Just one in five Germans think Scholz should run for chancellor again at next year’s election, according to a poll published this week. Worse, Germans have a clear idea of who they’d like to replace him with: defence minister Boris Pistorius.
Two thirds of Germans want Scholz to renounce his candidacy for chancellor and allow Pistorius to step into his shoes, according to a survey by pollsters Forsa. Ominously for Scholz, SPD party supporters are similarly unenthusiastic about him: 63 per cent of those who voted for him in 2021 also think he should step aside.
If replacing Biden has revived the Democrats’ chances of winning the US presidential election, might the same work for the SPD?
Serving as defence minister since January 2023, Pistorius has consistently been considered the country’s most popular politician for at least the last ten months.
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