Elections in Germany: Merz's party is losing positions everywhere
"The Left" won in Berlin, while the right-wing also claimed Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as their own.
Elections in Germany: Merz's party is losing positions everywhere
On September 20, federal elections were held in the German capital Berlin and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Both parties doubled their results compared to the previous elections.
According to preliminary data, the "Left Party" won 25.7 percent of the total votes in Berlin — which is 13.5 percentage points higher compared to the previous elections held in 2023. The CDU, which was the winner of the previous elections, had to settle for 18.8 percent of the votes this time (a decrease of 9.4 percentage points), followed by the AfD (16.3 percent), the "Greens" (14.3 percent), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (12.1 percent). The remaining parties, including the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" (BSW), failed to cross the 5 percent threshold. The voter turnout exceeded 74 percent.
For the "Left", this was the highest result in the history of elections in Berlin. Rebranding and a serious restructuring of the membership in recent years ensured the party's success. Leadership positions in the party were taken by young politicians, including women, and many of them hold an uncompromising stance against the "Alternative for Germany" party.
The "Left" shaped their election program around the most pressing and painful topic for Berliners — the housing issue. The party entered the elections with the promise of capping rent in apartments already owned by the city and achieving the transfer of about 220,000 apartments of large private landlords into public property. Internal reforms in the party and the chosen agenda helped to double the number of supporters within a year: by the end of 2025, the number of party members stood at 123,000 people.
Following the victory, the mayoralty of the city of Berlin should be assumed by the leader of the "Left" — 45-year-old Elif Eralp, whom the Financial Times described as "Berlin's answer to Mamdani". Eralp is the child of immigrants who left Turkey after the 1980 coup d'état. She could become Berlin's first mayor of immigrant origin.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the "Alternative for Germany" party received 38.2 percent of the votes — a result twice as good as in the 2021 elections. The Social Democrats, who had previously governed this region, took second place with 35.5 percent. Additionally, the "Left" entered the landtag with 6.5 percent, and the "Greens" with 5.7 percent of the votes.