Merkel’s austerity regime rates poorly in crucial poll

Angela Merkel’s conservatives were dealt a crushing defeat by voters in Germany’s biggest state yesterday in a damning verdict on her party’s relentless focus on austerity.

The chancellor’s Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered their worst result since World War II in North Rhine-westphalia, a western state beset by budget problems.

While a weak CDU candidate for state president must shoulder some of the blame, the Social Democrats (SPD) picked up more support for their plan to go easier on cutbacks and layoffs than Merkel’s party.

The Centre-left will see the result as adding real momentum towards a return to power at the heart of Europe after Francois Hollande’s triumph in the French presidential election. The reverse for Merkel comes only two days before Hollande is due to visit Berlin to press her to shift away from austerity and put more emphasis on growth in Europe.

‘‘This is not a good evening for Merkel,’’ said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University. Merkel’s CDU saw its support fall to 26 per cent, down from nearly 35 per cent in 2010.

‘‘The SPD is strengthened by this election, which will stir things up in Berlin.’’

Merkel’s spin doctors rushed to pour cold water on the suggestion that a vote against the CDU in North Rhine-westphalia could lead to a change of course at national level.

The result means that an SPDGreen coalition will take control of North Rhine-westphalia in what could be a dress rehearsal for the national elections in 18 months,when Merkel plans to run for a third term. The two parties ruled before the election in a minority government, which was unable to pass the state’s annual budget.

According to an exit poll, the SPD was on course for 39 per cent of the vote and will be able to form a majority with the Greens, who scored 12 per cent.

The Free Democrats were forecast to make it back into the state assembly on 8.6 per cent while the Pirate Party, which campaigns for internet freedom, scored 7.6 per cent on the exit poll.