Why a weakened Angela Merkel is still the most important politician in the West
Andrew Hammond says the full ramifications of the German election, and the newly empowered far right, are unclear but Merkel remains on course to set records, as well as influence the terms for Brexit
The unexpected narrative of election night was the higher-than-previously-anticipated support for the AfD, which won around 13 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls. The party therefore becomes the first far-right group to win Bundestag seats in some six decades, and could trigger a significant shift in the country’s post-war politics.
President Macron’s party suffers a blow in French Senate election, dominated by rival conservatives
Part of the reason the AfD did not connect with even more of the electorate is the relative sense of contentment in much of the country. Many, but by no means all, Germans still see themselves as beneficiaries of globalisation, with unemployment this year the lowest since the reunification of east and west Germany.