German conservatives rule out replacing faltering chancellor candidate

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and North-Rhine Westphalian State Premier Armin Laschet visit the area affected by floods caused by heavy rainfalls, in Iversheim, a suburb of Bad Muenstereifel, North-Rhine Westphalian state, Germany July 20, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/Pool/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - A member of Angela Merkel's conservatives dismissed suggestions on Friday that they should drop their candidate to succeed her as German leader, despite his souring popularity ratings that could cost them an election they had looked certain to win.

Less than six weeks before the Sept. 26 vote, support for Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), has fallen to 23%, some 10 points lower from the last election and only 2 points ahead of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).