German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s approval has fallen to 10%, with 88% of voters rejecting his leadership, following defeats for his CDU in three state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt.

A separate INSA poll for Bild puts Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc at 18% and the far-right Alternative for Germany at 30%, a lead of 12 percentage points. The survey also shows record dissatisfaction with Merz and the governing CDU/CSU-SPD coalition.

The CDU won 4.9% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, missing the 5% threshold and losing all its seats in the state parliament for the first time in postwar Germany. In Berlin, the Left party won 25.7%, ahead of the CDU’s 18.8%. Merz called the Mecklenburg result a “disaster” but refused to resign, secured CDU leaders’ backing to remain chancellor and pledged to continue economic reforms.