Far right vote triples in Germany’s most populous state in crunch local elections

Key topics:AfD nearly triples vote share in North Rhine-Westphalia municipal electionsCDU and SPD lose ground, increasing pressure on Merz’s governmentEconomic fears and migration debates boost far-right influence in industrial regions.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up for the BizNews channel here..By Chris Reiter and Kamil Kowalcze.Germany’s far-right AfD party nearly tripled support in municipal elections in the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia and both ruling parties lost ground, intensifying pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to revive growth and push through reforms. In the country’s most-populous state, the Alternative for Germany increased its share of the vote by 9.4 percentage points to 14.5%, according to official preliminary results. The anti-immigration party will also head to a runoff in mayor’s races in Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen and Hagen. In the first electoral test for the new government, Merz’s Christian Democrats remained the strongest force in the state, but fell 1 point to 33.3%. The co-ruling Social Democrats, which once counted the industry-heavy state as a stronghold, declined 2.2 points to 22.1%. .“I see with great concern the results of the Social Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia, that’s the beating heart of our democracy,” Olaf Lies, an SPD member and premier of the neighboring state of Lower Saxony, told broadcaster ARD. He criticized campaign topics like migration, which unsettled voters and distracted from policy proposals to support working families. “We have not emphasized enough that it’s about the center” of society, Lies said.Merz, who hails from North Rhine-Westphalia, has promised a “fall of reforms” after bickering over policy and personnel in recent months. The coalition’s agenda includes divisive welfare changes and implementing a €500 billion ($590 billion) infrastructure fund to bolster the sputtering economy.“It’s really about the content now and what people expect from us,” said SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf, adding that money from the infrastructure fund needs to flow quickly to the municipalities..Read more:. Far-right surge: AfD party gains power in Eastern Germany.The election shows how the AfD’s influence can spread to Germany’s industrial heartland, where fears about job security are mounting. The result builds on the party’s position in the former communist east, where it’s roughly twice as popular. “We’ve cemented our support,” said Enxhi Seli-Zacharias, an AfD state legislator.Despite the gains, the AfD fell short of the 16.4% share it received in the state in the federal election in February. In the mayoral runoffs, the party’s candidates trail the mainstream contender.North Rhine-Westphalia has 18 million inhabitants — comparable to the Netherlands — and is home to major industrial cities such as Duisburg, Dortmund and Essen. Germany’s Rust Belt has been destabilized by technological change, closing of coal mines and mounting competition from China. Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump — whose administration has voiced support for the AfD — have added to the headwinds facing Europe’s largest economy.“This result must give us pause for thought and cannot allow us to rest easy,” said Hendrik Wuest, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Christian Democratic premier. .© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Far right vote triples in Germany’s most populous state in crunch local elections

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