The results of the German election, which was held yesterday, represent a triumph for the country’s right-wing, a disaster for its liberal centre, and a modest success for the left, which won the largest share of the vote among young people. Here are the main takeaways.
SOGGY CENTRISM IS OUT
Soggy centrism is out: the incumbent party, the centre-left SPD, had its worst result in over a century, the Green Party saw a 3 per cent drop in its vote share, and the liberal Free Democratic Party has gone from being a member of the ruling coalition to not having a single seat in parliament.
THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION IS IN
The Christian Democratic Union (along with its sister party, Christian Social Union) won the largest vote share and its leader, Friedrich Merz, is going to be the next chancellor. Traditionally, this party has been a mixture of conservative on social issues and centre-left on the economy, but Merz – a Ronald Reagan super-fan and former banker who owns two private jets – has moved the party sharply to the right, pushing for lower taxes, deregulation and stricter policies on immigration.
WHAT ABOUT THE AFD?
The AfD – a far-right party which last month was revealed to have been planning mass deportations with right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis – enjoyed a solid night. It came in second place overall, won outright in former East Germany and at over a million votes doubled its previous vote share. But it didn’t do as well as many analysts had predicted and it won’t be joining the government. In a long-standing strategy known as “the firewall” aimed at preventing the far-right from getting into power, every other major party in Germany has refused to enter into a coalition with the AfD, citing its extremist politics and neo-Nazi affiliations. Merz, however, has recently collaborated with the party in order to pass new anti-migrant legislation, in a move which many critics believed weakened the “firewall”. Even if Merz won’t invite them to join the government, it’s clear that he is willing to work with the AfD when their interests align.
A MORSEL OF GOOD NEWS
Despite the right’s success, more young people voted for the left-wing Die Linke than any other party (the AfD came second). Overall, Die Linke did much better than expected, winning nearly 9 per cent of the overall vote and over 60 seats in parliament, and it did so by campaigning on a pro-migrant, pro-trans rights and democratic socialist platform. This comes two years after one of Die Linke’s co-leaders, Sahra Wagenknecht, broke away to form a rival party which combined left-wing economics with anti-migrant policies, climate scepticism and “anti-woke” sentiment. This breakaway party, the BSW, didn’t win any votes yesterday, which calls into question whether pandering to the Right on social issues is a reliable path to electoral success.
Still, the election isn’t exactly a smug ‘the kids are alright, folks” moment. While more young people voted for Die Linke overall, far more young men voted for the AfD (25 per cent versus 14 per cent), which is yet another example of the growing political polarisation between young men and women that we’ve seen around the world. What is to be done about Gen Z guys?
That both the AfD and Die Linke did so well among young people suggests a resentment towards the status quo and an appetite for radical change, which it’s unlikely that the Christian Democrats will be able to satisfy. If anything, Multz’s neoliberal fiscal policies will exacerbate the same conditions – the economic uncertainty, the sense of social dislocation – which have boosted support for the AfD. Germany has prevented the far-right getting into power for now, but these results are no reason to be complacent.