German SPD draws level with Merkel's conservatives, poll shows

Reuters
Incoming Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader and candidate in the upcoming general elections Martin Schulz addresses an SPD party convention in Berlin, Germany, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Support for Germany's Social Democrats has risen slightly from a week ago and the center-left party is now tied with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc on 33 percent, a survey by pollster Emnid for weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed. The SPD gained one point on the week, the poll showed. Support for other parties was unchanged, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 9 percent and the leftist Linke and the environmentalist Greens on 8 percent each. Support for the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) was at 5 percent, with other parties losing a point to 4 percent. The poll showed the SPD's new leader, Martin Schulz, had made a good impression with voters, 67 percent of whom said he was likeable and 66 percent of whom said he was competent. Emnid polled 2,450 voters between March 16 and March 22. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Gareth Jones)