SPIEGEL poll: Majority of Germans reject the Left Party even without Wagenknecht

Zoom Image

Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht at an appearance in Kaiserslautern

Photograph:

IMAGO / IMAGO/Wolfgang Maria Weber

In politics, issues can rarely be broken down into a simple core question. Even more rarely, such a question would also bring a clear answer. The Left has also been searching for answers for years, oscillating between left-wing populist and identity politics positions in a dispute over direction. At least the party has the right question for the search for identity. It can be reduced entirely to one person: "Now tell me, how do you feel about the wagon servant?"

A SPIEGEL poll now provides at least one answer: Many do not want to miss the pugnacious left-wing icon.

The opinion research institute Civey has asked for SPIEGEL who could imagine voting for the Left Party in the next federal election if Sahra Wagenknecht were no longer in the party. The former parliamentary group leader has been flirting for a long time with exit plans and the founding of her own party – apart from hints, however, nothing has happened in recent months. Nevertheless, the left fears for its survival.

Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they were more likely to vote for the Left. For a narrow two-thirds majority, however, the Left Party will not become more attractive even without Wagenknecht.

In order not to falsify the results, only people who would describe themselves as left-wing were interviewed. (Read more about the Civey methodology here.)

Approval among younger people

The Left Party received the greatest approval among 18- to 29-year-olds. Here, 42 percent of those surveyed would be able to vote for the Left Party without Wagenknecht. However, approval decreases the older the respondents. Among 50- to 64-year-olds, only a quarter answered the question in the affirmative, while only 65 percent of respondents over 21 would vote for a Wagenknecht-less left.

The fact that the Wagenknecht question is primarily of concern to the party itself is also shown by a look at the breakdown by party preference. For example, half of the left-wing supporters surveyed can imagine voting for the party if Wagenknecht is no longer on board. On the other hand, among respondents who otherwise tend to vote for the SPD, approval is significantly lower. After all, 37 percent of Green voters would then find the Left more attractive.

The results correspond to a SPIEGEL survey from March. There, conservative voters in particular had shown themselves open to a possible Wagenknecht party, especially supporters of the AfD. Overall, 25 percent of the population could "definitely" or "rather" imagine voting for a Wagenknecht party. 67 percent answer negatively.

Clear swipes at Wagenknecht

The Left Party has been in constant ups and downs since the electoral defeat in the 2021 federal election. It suffered defeats in many state elections, but recently achieved success in Bremen. There, the Left Party governs successfully in a red-red-green alliance, and the realpolitik work of the two Left Party senators was appreciated by many Bremen residents.

Many in the party saw this as a point against the Wagenknecht camp: Those who "clearly stand out from 'left-conservative' positions on migration and climate policy," according to a paper circulated after the election, would be elected "in defiance of the national trend." All attempts to turn our party into a conservative force have failed." A clear swipe at Wagenknecht.

But their supporters in the Left Party also see the Bremen election as confirmation of their own thesis. In Bremen, for example, the party has received votes from urban and younger people, but its policies no longer appeal to the population in large states. The party is allegedly too focused on "identity politics," according to Wagenknecht's popular accusation. In rural areas, she is losing contact with the population.

However, one detail of the result speaks against the thesis: the view to the east. There, with 35 percent of respondents, nine percent are more interested in a left without Wagenknecht than in the West.

Really reliable answers to the left-wing crucial question are unlikely to be available until October at the earliest. Then, with Hesse, a territorial state elects a new state parliament. Then the time is approaching when Wagenknecht, according to her, wants to make a final statement on the founding of her own party.