AfD tops Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vote as Merz's CDU slumps to worst result since 1949

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has taken first place in a state election in the north-east, exit polls showed on Sunday, delivering what Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself called “a disaster” for his conservatives.

The AfD was projected to win about 37 per cent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ahead of the centre-left Social Democrats on 35.5 per cent, according to exit polls for ARD public television reported by Reuters. Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) were on just 5.5 per cent — barely above the five per cent threshold for entering the state parliament, and, if confirmed, the party’s worst result in any state election since 1949.

In a second vote in the capital Berlin on Sunday, the far-left Linke party led on 24.5 per cent, with the CDU on 20 per cent and the AfD on 16 per cent, the exit polls showed. CNN’s projections put the AfD at 38 per cent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Linke at 26 per cent in Berlin.

Merz vowed to fight on as chancellor and push ahead with his reform agenda, despite speculation that a bad result could prompt him to resign. “It’s a disaster,” he said in televised remarks after the exit polls were published. He has called a party meeting for Sunday to discuss the way forward.

The result is the AfD’s second first-place finish at state level in a month, after its showing in Saxony-Anhalt, and comes with the party topping national opinion polls. The other main parties rule out working with the AfD, so it is unlikely to govern despite the win. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel told CNN her party was “clearly the new people’s party in Germany”.

Sources

• Reuters: Germany’s far-right AfD leads race in north-east state, exit poll shows
• CNN: Germany’s far-right AfD wins another state election, piling pressure on Chancellor Merz, exit polls show