Gearing up for Germany's 2025 election, Scholz’s SPD eyes working class votes

Germany’s parties are gearing up for their election campaigns with around a year to go before the country’s next scheduled national vote. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) are trying to strengthen their profile as an advocate for workers via a position paper which puts a focus on boosting economic growth, securing jobs, and providing financial relief to employees, according to newspaper Die Zeit.

At a meeting of the party leadership on 13 - 14 October, Scholz and other leading SPD members are expected to adopt the paper, which calls for lower energy prices, lower taxes, and higher minimum wages and pensions. (Politico made the paper available.)

The position paper said that the conservative opposition party Christian Democrats (CDU), under its leader Friedrich Merz, which currently leads national polls by a wide margin, aims to cut Germany’s social security system and turn migrants into political scapegoats. “That’s the wrong path for our country,” the SPD said. It aims to lower taxes for most citizens while at the same time claiming higher taxes from the richest groups in society.

The party also said it will assess options for a new buyer’s premium to boost sales of electric vehicles and ramp up charging infrastructure. The automotive industry is currently grappling with low EV sales, raising concerns over large-scale job losses in one of the country’s most important industries.

Moreover, a “Made in Germany” bonus should provide financial incentives to companies that invest in “future industries and good jobs” in the country, news website ntv reported. “Those who invest in Germany will receive tax relief,” the party paper said.

Over the weekend, Merz spoke at a convention of the conservative Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), where he stressed the Conservatives’ resolve to win next year’s election, public broadcaster ARD reported. Merz said the current government coalition of SPD, Green Party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) was too embroiled in internal fighting to govern effectively. He argued that the CDU/CSU, which do not compete for voters as the CDU is not on the ballot in Bavaria, presented a much more united force.

However, differences were visible at the conference between Merz and CSU head Markus Söder in their approach, should the conservative alliance be able to pick a coalition partner after next year’s election. While Söder had categorically ruled out forming a coalition with the Greens, Merz said only that the Green Party “as it is today” would not be a good fit as a partner for the CDU/CSU. He added that “it won’t be a pleasure either” if the conservatives were left with no choice but to form a coalition with Scholz’s SPD.

The SPD and its other government coalition partners suffered several electoral setbacks in September in three state elections in eastern Germany, which gave a boost to populist leftwing and rightwing parties.

While a surge at the same level for the rightwing Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the leftwing-nationalist Sahra Wagenkecht Alliance (BSW) currently appears unlikely at the federal level, the government coalition parties at the moment all poll below their results at the previous election in 2021. This means that a change in government towards one that includes the CDU/CSU is likely unless Scholz’s SPD, the Greens and the FDP find a way to significantly boost their own popularity.