Merkel Bloc Widens Lead Over Green Party in German Election Poll

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc widened its lead over the Green party to 10 percentage points in a weekly poll ahead of Germany’s election on Sept. 26.

The Christian Democratic Union and its Bavaria-based ally, the CSU, polled an unchanged 28% in Insa’s poll for Bild am Sonntag, while the Greens declined 1 percentage point to 18%. The Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partner since 2013, polled 17%.

The pro-business Free Democrats, the preferred coalition partner of Armin Laschet, the CDU-CSU’s candidate to succeed Merkel as chancellor, were unchanged at 12%. The nationalist Alternative for Germany declined 1 point to 10% and the anti-capitalist Left party stayed at 7%.

Merkel has led the government of Europe’s biggest economy for 16 years and isn’t seeking a fifth term in September.

No margin of error was provided for the June 28-July 2 poll of 1,352 people.

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