The far-right Alternative for Germany party has topped a regional election outright for the first time since World War Two, winning 44 per cent of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday in a result that has sent shockwaves through Germany's political establishment.
Exit poll figures showed the AfD finishing well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU, which managed just 18 per cent — a crushing result for the mainstream party. The centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens both cleared the minimum threshold to enter parliament, according to broadcaster figures, but neither posed any serious challenge to the AfD's commanding lead. Turnout surpassed 80 per cent, reflecting the intensity of public feeling surrounding the contest.
For the latest on major world political developments, including this landmark German result, we continue to bring you full coverage as it unfolds.
Siegmund's Historic Win Reshapes German Politics
The AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, a 35-year-old former salesman, ran a campaign built on nostalgia and disillusionment, drawing thousands to rallies with the promise of returning Germany to what he called "good, old, safe" times. His signature scooter — a model manufactured in the former East Germany — became an emblem of the campaign's appeal to so-called ostalgie, the widespread nostalgia for life before German reunification.
"We have made history in this country," Siegmund declared after the exit polls were published, framing the victory not merely as a state-level achievement but as a springboard toward national power ahead of federal elections due in 2029.
With interim results showing the AfD more than doubling its vote share since the last Saxony-Anhalt state election in 2021 — when the party finished second with around 20 per cent — Siegmund has become, by any measure, the most electorally successful far-right politician in Germany's postwar democratic history. One prominent German magazine described him as "the most dangerous man in Germany" in a cover story published in August.
Whether the result translates directly into governing power remains uncertain. All major mainstream parties have refused to enter coalition with the AfD, leaving the party without obvious partners. A potential avenue could open through the far-left BSW party, if it manages to clear the parliamentary threshold, though no formal arrangements have been confirmed.
A Party Built on Hardline Policy and Nostalgia
The AfD's platform in Saxony-Anhalt combined sweeping immigration restrictions with a broader cultural agenda. Its policies include the deportation of refugees without legal residency status, free childcare and tax incentives to encourage larger families, and the restoration of trade with Russia — including the resumption of oil and gas imports. The party also wants to cut financial support for Ukraine, defund public broadcasters, ban gay pride flags at schools, and redirect funding away from what it characterises as "woke" subjects in education.
During the campaign, the AfD positioned itself as the antidote to a political class it described as tired and out of touch, tapping into deep-seated frustration with Germany's sluggish economic growth and anxieties around immigration and national identity.
The party's federal co-leader, Alice Weidel, hailed the outcome as "historic" and argued it represented a clear public mandate to govern. The AfD has consistently dismissed accusations of extremism as scaremongering, calling such labels an insult to its millions of supporters.
Germany's domestic intelligence service classified the AfD as a right-wing extremist organisation, though the party challenged that designation in court and obtained an injunction. Understanding the broader trajectory of the AfD requires context from the History of Germany (1990–present), which traces how the country's postwar democratic structures have evolved since reunification — and how fragile some of those structures have now proven to be.
A Blow for Merz and the Mainstream
The result delivers a significant blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose personal approval ratings have slid to historic lows since taking office. Voters appear to have turned away from his efforts to reform Germany's stagnant economy, while critics have pointed to a gaffe-prone public manner as compounding his difficulties.
Nationally, the AfD is now polling at 28 per cent — ahead of the conservatives on 20 per cent — making it Germany's most popular party according to recent polling figures. While the party has historically been strongest in the formerly communist eastern states, it has also recorded around 20 per cent in western states including Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate earlier this year, underlining a growing national footprint that mainstream rivals can no longer dismiss as a regional phenomenon.
Founded only in 2013, the AfD's trajectory — from fringe protest party to the dominant force in German state-level politics — marks one of the most dramatic rises in the country's postwar democratic era. Coalition negotiations in Saxony-Anhalt are expected to be protracted, and the question of who ultimately governs the state may take weeks to resolve. What is beyond doubt, however, is that the political landscape in Germany has shifted in ways that will reverberate well beyond Saxony-Anhalt's borders.
