A few historical facts as we wait for results: If the AfD makes it into the Bundestag and the FDP survives, this will be the first Bundestag with six parties in it (counting CDU and CSU as one "Fraktion", or political group) since 1953.
By Andrew GimsonFollow Andrew on Twitter Angela Merkel is taking emergency action to try to avert the rise of Germany's new eurosceptic party. Allies of the Chancellor last night indicated via Bloomberg News that if elected to a third term on 22 September, she will "curtail the reach of European Union rulemakers" and align herself "with […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter CDU candidate David McAllister played on his Scottish roots The CDU had been expected to lose control of Lower Saxony for some time and, yesterday, by the narrowest of margins it did lose control of this North West German laender. It turned out to be a much closer contest […]
Andrew Marshall is Managing Director of Cognito PR and Marketing, and a Conservative councillor in Camden. He writes here in a personal capacity. Follow Andrew on Twitter. The latest polls in Germany put Merkel’s CDU (Christian Democratic Union) on 40-41%, up from 34% at the last election and more than 10% ahead of the opposition […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Another election result and another bad result for the incumbent. Angela Merkel's CDU won just 25% of the vote in the huge laender of North Rhine Westphalia. The Wall Street Journal warns it readers not to get excited about the result. Before 2005 NRW was a stronghold of the opposition […]
Andrew Marshall is a director of communications consultancy Fishburn Hedges and a Conservative Party activist On December 16 a referendum will take place in Germany on its participation in the European Stability Mechanism – a referendum, that is, for the 65,000 members of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). It’s been triggered by a backbencher, and […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Overnight we had confirmation that Angela Merkel's CDU/FDP coalition has abandoned plans to extend the life of Germany's ageing nuclear reactors until 2036. By 2022 Germany will become a nuclear-free power and, in preparation, reports Reuters, Merkel will "present five or six bills in Cabinet on June 6, including […]
Tim Montgomerie Nick Clegg will be watching the fortunes of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) with interest. The junior coalition partner in Angela Merkel's government was badly defeated in the recent Baden-Württemberg election. Guido Westervelle has decided to end his ten year leadership of the FDP but continue as Germany's Foreign Secretary. He hopes that […]
Tim Montgomerie Extreme volatility is the big new thing in politics. Yesterday the Australian Labor party wasn't just beaten in New South Wales but "massacred". It was, wrote Jason Groves for ConHome, "the most devastating defeat in Australian political history". Last month Angela Merkel's CDU suffered a heavy defeat in Hamburg. Today, according to exit […]
Tim Montgomerie Angela Merkel received a bloody nose from voters in Hamburg yesterday. Her CDU party's support collapsed from 42.6% in 2008 to just 20% in yesterday's state elections. The elections happened early because the spectrum-transcending CDU-Green alliance formed after 2008's elections, had, not unexpectedly, collapsed. Local factors were clearly powerful, therefore, in an election […]
One of the big implications of the rescue of Greece is electoral unpopularity for Angela Merkel. Last weekend the German Chancellor's CDU party lost power in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. With many of the state's cities are the verge of bankruptcy, Mrs Merkel's federal coalition is in no position to help them – […]
ConservativeInternational last looked at Angela Merkel's fortunes at the end of January. Problems with her new FDP coalition partners were already emerging then. Her government's fortunes have got worse since. Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the FDP and her junior coalition partner, has seen his party's popularity halve since becoming German Foreign Minister. 62% of […]
A cover feature in Time magazine called her the most powerful leader in Europe but Angela Merkel has had a bumpy ride since ending her grand coalition with the leftist SDP and forming a coalition with the libertarian FDP. Five observations: Opinion polls show that the German public are unhappy with her start to her […]
6.45pm: Click to watch Angela Merkel's victory speech (translated into English). 5.45pm: Dan Hamilton has just emailed in the exit poll: 2009 2005 CDU/CSU 33.5% (35.2%) SPD 23.5% (34.2%) FDP 14.5% (9.8%) Greens 10.0% (8.1%) Left […]
Both the Financial Times and The Economist hope that Angela Merkel will be able to break free of her 'grand coalition' with the left-leaning SPD after tomorrow's German elections. Latest opinion polls point to a race that is still too close to call. The CDU, when joined with the economically and socially liberal FDP, are […]