Final results show party won with 43.8 per cent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt
Leaders of the hard-Right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) said they had “made history” after its largest-ever election victory.
Final results in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt showed the party won with 43.8 per cent of the vote, with the Christian Democrats (CDU), led by Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, trailing on 17.2 per cent.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, said: “We have achieved exactly what we set out to achieve. We have made history in this country.
“Things cannot continue like this. We need a fundamental political change in this country.”
The party achieved more than double the votes than five years ago, however it has fallen three seats short of an absolute majority, with 39 seats in an 83-seat parliament.
The anti-immigrant and pro-Russian AfD says it has won a mandate to govern, however it may not be able to do so in Saxony-Anhalt without support from the other political parties – which have all ruled out working with it.
That leaves the next state government in limbo.
“If necessary there’ll just be new elections, then we’d just get 50 or 55 per cent,” said Mr Siegmund, adding he was prepared to work with another party or individual MPs.
There was ecstatic whooping, clapping and cheering at the AfD’s election party in Magdeburg, the state capital, when the exit poll was broadcast.
Alice Weidel, the AfD co-leader, hailed a “historic result” and said she was open to holding coalition talks with the other parties.
“We are not building any firewalls yet,” she said ironically, referring to the “cordon sanitaire” other German parties have held against the AfD.
Mr Siegmund said the result would “shake all of Germany” and that the party would “get our country back, and we are starting with Saxony-Anhalt”.
In a significant blow to Mr Merz, the CDU suffered a disastrous result, falling to 17.2 per cent, winning 15 seats, having lost around half of its support.
The party was expected to win at least 20 per cent of the vote.
The poor results will further fuel speculation that Mr Merz could face a leadership challenge from within his party, and potentially the collapse of his fractious coalition with the centre-Left SPD.
The centre-Left Social Democrats won 9.3 per cent, followed by the Greens at 8.9 per cent and the Left Party with 8.6 per cent, each winning eight seats.
The BSW party took five seats with 5.3 per cent of the vote.
Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the result without comment on Truth Social, while far-Right leaders in other European countries cheered the election as a mandate for change.
Elon Musk, who has long supported the party, congratulated the AfD, writing “Well done” in German on X.
Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain said the victory of “our friends in the AfD” was an “inspiration” for his party in Britain.
Donald Tusk, Poland’s centre-Right prime minister, took a different view, declaring: “In Poland, only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD in Germany.”
Benjamin Haddad, France’s Europe minister, called the party’s victory “a grave moment in Europe”.
“Nationalism and xenophobia will never be a solution,” he said.
The British Government declared on Monday morning that it would not work with the AfD even if it ends up governing in the region.
Emma Reynolds, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told Times Radio: “We will work with the government of the day and the AfD is not part of the government of the day in Germany. I’m not keen to reach out to the AfD.”
Asked whether she considered the AfD “Right-wing” or “far-Right”, Ms Reynolds said: “I consider them pretty far-Right, yeah. It reminds us that we’re not the only country where we have far-Right populists like Reform. France has the same sort of problem too.”
The AfD has become a controversial force in German politics amid accusations that it has been harbouring neo-Nazi sympathisers and advocating Kremlin-friendly policies.
In recent years, senior members have been convicted of using Nazi slogans in speeches and caught attending a Right-wing extremist conference about the mass deportation of foreigners.
The party is classified as a Right-wing extremist group by Germany’s domestic intelligence services, and has been placed under surveillance in Saxony-Anhalt.