Blow for Merkel in swing state poll

BOTH parties in Angela Merkel’s governing coalition suffered heavy losses in a regional election in a key swing state, exit polls suggested last night.

The upset is the second for Germany’s ruling parties in a fortnight.

Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) shed about 10 points for a 8 per cent result, according to the exit poll.

It is the CDU’s worst showing in the state of Hesse since 1966.

Coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), tumbled almost 11 points to

0 per cent. The result is the SPD’s worst ever in the state and will pile pressure on its party leader Andrea Nahles, who last night warned: ‘The state of the government is unacceptable.’

The result is another milestone in the long decline of the country’s ‘people’s parties’ CDU and SPD which have dominated German politics for decades.

Electoral momentum is now on the side of newer parties, more tightly focused on a narrow range of issues.

The left-leaning Greens surged into third place, with about 19.5 per cent of the vote, according to polls. The antiimmigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) was handed a 1 per cent score. It has eaten into the CDU and SPD vote by railing against migrants and refugees.

The most extreme reaction to the result would be a SPD withdrawal from Merkel’s coalition, which would almost certainly trigger fresh elections.

With the CDU’s party conference in December, the losses could result in Mrs Merkel losing her leadership re-election bid. She said previously she could not continue as Chancellor were she to lose that role.

Hesse is a swing state seat in Germany’s financial centre, Frankfurt. The election was closely watched by analysts for signs of further dropping support for the CDU and SPD.