Two weeks before a national election which has proved to be unexpectedly turbulent, the INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag put the SPD on 26%, up a point from a week ago and their highest rating since June 2017.The conservatives are already missing the pulling power of Merkel, who after four election victories and 16 years leading Europe's biggest economy is not running again.
The jovial if uncharismatic leader of Germany's most populous state has made mistakes during the campaign, including being caught on camera laughing during a visit to a town hit by lethal floods in July. He apologised. The SPD's Olaf Scholz won the first televised debate two weeks ago, according to polls, and is still by far the most popular of the candidates for chancellor.
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