star survey
The Germans consider Markus Söder to be a strong leader but not very trustworthy
Markus Söder in profile: The Germans don’t just attribute positive qualities to him
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Shortly before the state elections, a newly collected profile of characteristics highlights the contradictory reputation of the CSU boss. Only the Bavarians see their Prime Minister a little more kindly.
CSU leader Markus Söder has a divided image like no other top politician. 64 percent of Germans think he is a strong leader, but only 29 percent think he is trustworthy. This was the result of a Forsa survey commissioned by star to a detailed characteristics profile of the Bavarian Prime Minister. Afterwards, 65 percent of Germans say that Söder speaks clearly, but only 34 percent find him likeable. 49 percent rate him as competent and 47 percent think that he knows what makes people tick.
Markus Söder comes off well in comparison
Compared to previous surveys of other top politicians, the results for Söder are above average for most characteristics. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, for example, only achieved 46 percent in the leadership criterion, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only achieved 23 percent. When it comes to trustworthiness, however, only FDP leader Christian Lindner received a worse rating. Green Party supporters have the biggest doubts about Söder: only seven percent think he is trustworthy.
Shortly before the state elections on October 8th, the numbers for Bavaria are particularly interesting: They are consistently better than the nationwide results. According to this, around 81 percent of Bavarians consider Söder to be a strong leader and 68 percent to be competent. The discrepancy is greatest when it comes to trustworthiness. 55 percent of residents in the Free State consider their Prime Minister to be trustworthy – 26 percentage points more than in the federal government.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for RTL Group Germany on September 14th and 15th. Database: 1250 respondents, including 400 in Bavaria. Statistical margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points