Germany's SPD is fighting for survival

Germany's SPD is fighting for survival September 1, 2026At a fitness class run by the Workers' Welfare Association, one stop on his tour through Saxony-Anhalt, Matthias Miersch is giving it his all: Hands up, hands down, touch your toes, all in time to the German schlager hit "Regenbogenfarben." Miersch, leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party's (SPD) parliamentary group, has travelled to Saxony-Anhalt for a 24-hour visit to lend his support. The election campaign in the eastern German state has entered its decisive final phase. In the state capital of Magdeburg and three smaller towns, he meets with SPD state politicians and local residents, taking part in discussions with a queer advocacy organization, a housing cooperative, and an initiative dedicated to the social integration of young refugees. Everything revolves around the party's core issues: affordable housing, social support, poverty reduction, integration, and protection against discrimination based on sexual identity. At the Rainbow Café in Magdeburg, Miersch speaks openly about his own sexual identity as a gay man. Those gathered there describe the open hatred and hostility they encounter, especially in rural areas, and speak of their growing fear of the prospect of a state government led by the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch has been classified by the domestic intelligence agency as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation. "We are witnessing a rollback of the freedoms and lifestyles that have emerged over recent decades," Miersch says at the Rainbow Café. The small room is colourful and crowded; on a shelf sit small flags bearing the slogan "No Time for Nazis." The SPD cannot stop the AfD The Social Democrats have little with which to counter the AfD's rise in Saxony-Anhalt. Germany's oldest political party is polling at just 7-8%, compared to the AfD's 42%. The SPD's main concern is that it might even fall below the 5% threshold for representation in parliament. The reason for the dwindling support is that many voters feel the party no longer has a clearly defined identity. The SPD is the junior coalition partner in the deeply unpopular federal government alongside the center-right Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU). "I do not want to conceal the fact," Miersch tells the journalists travelling with him at the end of the tour, "that federal politics is also fuelling debate here on the ground." What he is referring to above all is the planned reform of the statuary pension system, especially the proposal to abolish the option of early retirement after 45 years, often referred to as retirement at 63. For many residents of Saxony-Anhalt, which has long grappled with an ageing population and demographic decline, the proposal is a particularly contentious issue. Elections in five federal states Yet Saxony-Anhalt is not the only place where the SPD is battling decline. Nationwide, the party is polling at only around 12%, trailing the AfD, the CDU/CSU, and the Greens. The situation is even more acute in some individual states. With elections in five of Germany's sixteen states and city-states, 2026 is a super election year. Two of those contests have already taken place. The results so far are sobering: in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, the SPD recorded its worst result of the postwar era and only just managed to retain its representation in the state parliament. In Rhineland-Palatinate, after 35 years in power, the party was decisively pushed into second place by the CDU. Its election result there was the worst in the state's history. September now threatens to bring further setbacks, and not only in Saxony-Anhalt. In the city-state of Berlin, the party is languishing in fifth place on just 12%, while in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania it could face the same fate as in Rhineland-Palatinate: the loss of power. Frustration is growing within the SPD An increasing number of Social Democrats are speaking of an existential crisis. The once-proud workers' party, which at its peak could count every second voter among its supporters, now faces the prospect of political irrelevance. "I see a party that is dying," Berlin state legislator Orkan Özdemir, co-chair of the SPD's Working Group on Migration and Diversity, told the German Press Agency in early August. In a letter to the party executive, the leadership of the Working Group on Migration and Diversity called for a special party conference this autumn and a restructuring of the party leadership. They are far from alone in doing so. Dissatisfaction, which first surfaced after the SPD's initial two state election defeats, is now spreading throughout the party. This comes at a particularly difficult moment, with the SPD in the midst of an election campaign and, in principle, expected to project unity. Painful compromise over social and migration policies At the heart of the criticism is the dual role of party leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, who also serve as members of the federal government. Critics argue that the arrangement is simply not working. As labour minister and finance minister, respectively, they are seen as doing too little alongside CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz to give the SPD a distinct political profile of its own. Too many concessions, particularly on social policy, have been made to the CDU, critics contend: Cuts to housing benefits, the abolition of Germany's "retirement at 63" provision, and the requirement to provide a doctor's note from the first day of illness: several recent government compromises have deeply disappointed the party's grassroots members. The party is also facing headwinds over its tougher migration policy. Those calling for a special party conference argue that a long-overdue debate is needed over whether the government's course still reflects the party's own principles and policy positions. A challenge for party leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil The question of what the SPD still stands for, whom it represents, and what it should stand for in the future is increasingly becoming a matter of the party's very survival. "We have lost the trust of voters because, on many issues, the SPD was unwilling to ruffle feathers," Bas said after the first two state elections this year. "In some cases, we have also failed to communicate clearly. Many people no longer know what the SPD stands for." Lars Klingbeil has also expressed understanding for the critics, though he remains unfazed. It is perfectly normal for issues to be debated within the party, Klingbeil said during a campaign appearance in Saxony-Anhalt. "We're at 12% nationwide, and these are extraordinarily turbulent times. I know that some of the decisions made at the federal level are demanding a great deal from my own party, too." Workers are voting for the AfD According to an analysis by the polling institute Forsa published in November 2025, only 9% of blue-collar workers and unemployed voters would now choose the SPD. Those who feel socially disadvantaged today are increasingly drawn to the AfD. In February 2025, pollsters at infratest dimap published figures showing that 38% of workers were voting for the AfD. For the SPD, that is a sobering finding. More and more Social Democrats see their party at a turning point. They are calling on the SPD to find its way back to a clearly recognizable political profile, if necessary even from the opposition benches. Otherwise, they fear, the party could be crushed between the demands of governing, internal factional struggles, and the loss of its former core electorate. This article has been translated from German.