Bavarian poll shows nearly half dissatisfied with Minister-President Markus Söder

A Civey poll of roughly 5,000 Bavarian residents found that 49 percent are dissatisfied with Minister-President Markus Söder, while only 38 percent rate his performance positively and the remainder are undecided. The margin of error is ±2.5 percentage points. Since March 2025, the share of dissatisfied voters has consistently exceeded those satisfied.

The survey comes as internal pressure on the CSU grows ahead of a scheduled party board meeting on 15 June, following a letter from party heavyweight Manfred Weber urging a course correction and heightened criticism of the controversial “Mütterrente” (mother’s pension). The CSU’s overall support remains around 38 percent, with the AfD at 19 percent, the Greens at 14 percent, Free Voters at 12 percent, and the SPD slipping to 6 percent, close to the 5‑percent threshold for parliamentary entry. Smaller parties such as the Left, BSW and FDP each poll below 5 percent.