AfD also makes strong gains

After renouncing the chancellorship: Söder soars in Bavaria

Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder a week ago at the CSU party conference in Augsburg. In a new poll, his party is in a better position than it has been for six years.(Bild: AFP)

In September, Markus Söder let Friedrich Merz (CDU) go first in the selection of the German Union's candidate for chancellor. Since then, the CSU leader has focused entirely on his work as Minister President of Bavaria. The people there seem to like this, as support for him is growing significantly.

Markus Söder and the CSU have achieved a record result in Bavaria according to a new INSA poll for the "Bild" newspaper. The party achieved 43% of the vote in the survey, the highest figure for six years.

Strongest CSU result since 2018
Under Söder's leadership, the CSU had not come close to this figure in any election since 2018. The success comes one month after Söder officially ended his ambitions to become the CDU/CSU's candidate for chancellor.

Markus Söder would also have been a good drawcard for the CDU/CSU as a candidate for chancellor.

Hermann Binkert, Chef des Meinungsforschungsinstituts  INSA („Institut für neue soziale Antworten“)

Free voters in decline
The CSU's gains of six percentage points come at the expense of the Free Voters, who now only achieve eleven percent - four percentage points less than in last year's state election. The CSU has formed a coalition with the Free Voters in Bavaria since the state elections in fall 2023.

According to INSA head Hermann Binkert, the CSU is the "big winner of the first year of government in this legislative period" and he adds: "Markus Söder would also have been a good candidate for chancellor for the CDU/CSU."

AfD also makes strong gains
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber believes the party's success is due to the fact that it talks about migration, security and prosperity. In addition to the CSU, the AfD also made gains and reached 18% in the survey, which is four percentage points higher than the result of the last state election.