(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many Germans would support their current chancellor in a direct election, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 55 per cent of respondents would vote for Angela Merkel of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), while 18 per cent would back Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Kurt Beck.

In November 2005, Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s first female head of government. The current administration includes members of the CDU, the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) and the left-leaning SPD. In October, Beck was re-elected as SPD leader with the support of more than 95 per cent of his caucus.

Last month, Beck called for the introduction of a statutory minimum wage. Economy minister and CSU member Michael Glos disagreed with the SPD leader’s proposal, saying, "Companies would end up cutting back on legitimate staff; production and services would move abroad."

Polling Data

If you could vote for the chancellor directly, who would you vote for?

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL
Methodology: Interviews with 2,501 German adults, conducted from Dec. 17 to Dec. 21, 2007. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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