For the first time in its history, Germany’s Left Party could lead Berlin. Despite extremely tight preelection polling, the Left commanded 25% of the vote in Berlin state elections, nearly doubling its previous haul and easily surpassing the incumbent Christian Democrats’ 18.9%. The result marks a major shift in the political environment, as the Left Party is poised to become the largest force in the city government for the first time.
Berlin turns left
Elif Eralp, the Left Party’s mayoral candidate, celebrated the win at her election night party. She declared that “love and justice have triumphed over hate” and that the result sends a message to the world. Eralp is set to become Berlin’s first Left Party mayor and its first mayor with Turkish roots, a symbolic milestone for a city with the largest Turkish diaspora population in the world.
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Many supporters highlighted the party’s focus on affordability and social housing. Campaign materials emphasized enforcing a 2021 citywide referendum in favor of expropriating over 200,000 apartments owned by “mega-landlords.” Leonie, a party member, described the result as a “clear signal for an affordable Berlin, and particularly for socializing corporate landlords.” The campaign resonated strongly with young voters and non-voters, drawing support from the center-left Greens and Social Democrats.
Forming a governing coalition will present significant challenges. The Left Party will likely need to partner with the Greens, who earned 14%, and the Social Democrats, who earned 12%. Linus, a party member, noted that it would be “really difficult for the party to put together a coalition given our ambitious goals.” The Social Democrats have previously spoken out against the housing referendum and opted to join the Christian Democrats as junior partners in the last election, creating friction with the new governing majority.
While the Left Party now holds the most seats, the only other viable government in Berlin is a CDU-led “Kenya” coalition, named for the black, red, and green colors of the parties involved. Carsten Koschmieder, a political scientist at Berlin’s Freie Universität, argued that the result shows an alternative to the far right exists for those unhappy with the status quo. “If you’re unhappy, you don’t have to vote for the fascists. You can vote for a left-wing program; there is actually an alternative,” he said.
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CDU’s worst result in history
The Christian Democrats faced a disastrous night in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The party received only 4.9% of the vote, just shy of the 5% threshold needed to enter the state parliament. This result is the worst in the party’s 81-year history and represents an unprecedented failure to gain representation in a regional government.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) continued its strong performance in the east, securing 38% of the vote, its best-ever showing in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent Social Democrats finished second with 35%, forcing them into coalition talks with the Greens and the Left Party to form a government and block the AfD. The Social Democrats and the Left Party are currently governing partners in Schwerin, the state capital, and have voiced their commitment to keeping the AfD out of power.
