Hermann Binkert, head of the Insa polling agency, stated "I would have said it was impossible to improve your ratings by 10 percentage points in 14 days. But that's what's happened."

The Financial Times reports "Phenomenal" Result Raises Prospect of Election Defeat for Chancellor.

The rise in support [for SPD], two weeks after Martin Schulz was picked as the SPD's leader, increases the uncertainty in the run-up to the September Bundestag election and raises the possibility that Ms Merkel — once seemingly invulnerable — might even be defeated in her bid for a fourth term in office.

"This is phenomenal," said Hermann Binkert, head of the Insa agency, which published its results on Monday. "I would have said it was impossible to improve your ratings by 10 percentage points in 14 days. But that's what's happened."