Dissatisfaction with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached a record 82 percent, according to a new INSA poll published by the newspaper Bild, with only 13 percent of voters saying they are satisfied with his work. The same split applies to the government as a whole, underlining how far the chancellor's standing has fallen during a difficult year in office.

The survey marks a sharp change since January, when 24 percent of respondents were satisfied and 67 percent dissatisfied. Sixty percent of those polled said their personal situation had worsened under the coalition of the CDU, the CSU and the SPD, while only six percent said it had improved and 29 percent reported no change.

On voting intention, the opposition Alternative for Germany leads on 29 percent, ahead of the CDU and CSU bloc on 19 percent, down one point on the previous week. The Greens stand on 15 percent, the SPD on 14 percent, the Left Party on 10 percent and the FDP on five percent. The voting figures are corroborated by PolitPro's polling table, which records the same INSA survey, dated 6 November, with the AfD on 29 percent and the Union on 19 percent.

The poll lands alongside a public dispute inside the conservative camp over who should succeed President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose successor is due to be chosen on 30 January. AfD politicians have also seized on the government's decision to add 200 million euros in winter aid for Ukraine, accusing Merz of neglecting problems at home. A single poll is a snapshot rather than a prediction, and surveys of this kind normally carry a margin of error of a few percentage points, but the direction of travel is now unmistakable.