According to a new Ipsos survey, support for the federal government continues to dwindle. With only a few exceptions, nearly all cabinet members have seen significant drops in approval, both when compared to a survey conducted in March and when observing the long-term trend since June 2025.
Overall public satisfaction with the government’s work currently stands at only 17 percent in May-a notable decrease of seven percentage points compared to March 2026. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is following a similar pattern; the percentage of Germans satisfied with his work has also dropped by seven points, now standing at 18 percent.
Several individual ministries are showing noticeable short-term declines. Bärbel Bas (SPD), the Minister of Labor, lost 10 percentage points compared to March and is now viewed positively by only 19 percent of Germans. Lars Klingbeil (SPD), the Finance Minister, and Thorsten Frei (CDU), the Chief of the Chancellery, each lost eight points, reaching 20 and 22 percent respectively. Katherina Reiche (CDU), the Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, also recorded a seven-point drop, with only 15 percent of respondents satisfied with her work-marking the lowest score among the cabinet.
In contrast to this general decline, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) maintains his standing. He remains the most popular politician in the cabinet by a wide margin, reporting a satisfaction rate of 50 percent. Compared to March 2026, Pistorius only registered a minimal decline of one percentage point. After him, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) ranks second with 30 percent support, suggesting a drop of two points.
The long-term trend reveals even starker losses. Since their assumption of office, the center-right coalition government has plummeted from a satisfaction score of 40 percent in June 2025 to the current 17 percent in May 2026, representing a 23-point fall. Friedrich Merz lost 21 percentage points over the same period (from 39 percent to 18 percent). Furthermore, Reiche has suffered the biggest single drop in the cabinet-falling from 41 to 15 percent (-26 points). Klingbeil faced significant losses over the year, dropping from 42 to 20 percent (-22 points). Labor Minister Bas’s approval has also declined by 20 percentage points since measuring began (from 39 to 19). Even top performer Pistorius was not immune to the general downward trend, seeing his support drop from 64 to 50 percent since June 2025 (-14 points).
In terms of general recognition, the awareness levels for many cabinet members have remained nearly constant over the past year. Boris Pistorius (4 percent unknown) and Lars Klingbeil (6 percent) remain the most familiar to the public. The least recognized official remains Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD), who is associated with by approximately 32 percent of respondents-a figure almost identical to that recorded in June 2025.
The results were gathered by Ipsos online from 1,000 eligible voters aged 18 to 75 in Germany between May 8 and 10, and the data was weighted by age, gender, education, region, and voting behavior during the last federal election.
