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Far-right AfD faces exit from Hamburg parliament after election flop Merkel's CDU suffers worst ever result in Hamburg elections
(about 3 hours later)
Exit polls suggest AfD fell below 5% threshold as voters also gave Merkel’s CDU thumbs-down Chancellor’s party slumped to third while far-right AfD scraped back in despite Hanau attack
Four days after a racist gun attack in the German town of Hanau killed 10 people, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) were set to be ejected from the Hamburg parliament in a state election on Sunday. Voters handed German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) their worst ever result in Hamburg on Sunday, punishing them for flirting with the far right in an eastern state and descending into a messy leadership battle.
Exit polls indicated that AfD would fall just short of the 5% threshold. “Nazis out,” shouted supporters of the victorious Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens as they celebrated in the northern city. Preliminary results also showed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) just scraping into the state parliament, only four days after a racist gunman killed 11 people, including himself and his mother, in the western town of Hanau.
Angela Merkel’s conservatives were also punished, as they were pushed into third place in their first electoral test since the chancellor’s protege gave up her hopes of taking the top job. The Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens celebrated in Germany’s second biggest city after taking first and second place, meaning they will probably maintain their ruling coalition in the northern port and city-state.
Exit polls for public broadcaster ZDF put the SPD, who share power with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) at a national level, at 38%, down about seven points from 2015 but still the strongest party in Hamburg, traditionally a centre-left stronghold. The conservative CDU suffered after party leader and Merkel protegee Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would stand aside, blowing open the race to succeed the chancellor and throwing the party into turmoil.
Facing a backlash over a leadership crisis and an outcry over a local branch of the CDU in eastern Germany siding with the AfD, Merkel’s party slumped to just 11%, its worst ever result in Hamburg. The CDU slipped into third place, scoring just 11.2%. The AfD, which has capitalised on anger over Merkel’s open-door migrant policy, especially in the former communist east of the country, won 5.3%, just over the 5% threshold needed to get into the state parliament, according to preliminary results.
“For us at the CDU, this is a bitter election result,” said the party’s premier of the neighbouring state of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther. Kramp-Karrenbauer’s move came after an eastern branch of the CDU defied the national party and voted with the AfD to install a state premier from a third party – breaking a postwar consensus among established parties of shunning the far right.
Two weeks ago, the CDU leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, plunged the party into chaos by saying she would stand aside, blowing open the race to succeed the chancellor. “It is a bitter day for the CDU in Germany and a historically bad result in Hamburg,” said CDU secretary general Paul Ziemiak.
Merkel, chancellor for almost 15 years, has said she will not run again in the next federal election, due by October 2021. The CDU leadership team meets on Monday and Kramp-Karrenbauer is expected to set out a timetable for a decision on the party chair and possibly the chancellor candidate. Up to five candidates are jockeying for the jobs.
The Greens were the biggest winners, reflecting their strength at the national level, due mainly to growing fears about climate change. They doubled their vote to 25.5%. Merkel, chancellor for almost 15 years, has said she will not run in the next federal election, which is due by October 2021.
The results point to a continuation of the ruling coalition of the SPD and Greens in Hamburg. Preliminary results put the SPD, who share power with the conservatives at the national level, down about 6 points from the last vote in 2015, but on 39.1% they are still by the far the biggest party in Hamburg.
The Greens were the biggest winners, reflecting their national strength driven by growing fears about climate change. They almost doubled their vote to 24.1% and national co-leader Robert Habeck declared it a “fantastic result”.
Nationally, the Greens are second, behind the conservative bloc, and many commentators expect them to have a role in the next federal government.