Germany: why the AfD won in Saxony-Anhalt – and what happens next

By Ed Turner, Reader in Politics, Co-Director, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University

The results of Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state election on September 6 were far worse than feared for the country’s mainstream political parties. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) came close to winning a majority of votes, with 43.8%. This was about 4% higher than polls had suggested.

Support for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), on the other hand, imploded. It won 17.2% of the vote, down from 37.1% in 2021, performing substantially worse than predicted.

At nearly 78%, turnout was up substantially compared with 2021 – in a way that…

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