Chancellor Angela Merkel’s once-unassailable position in German politics endured yet another blow as support for her party dropped precipitously in a state that has long been a bellwether for the nation, projected results showed. The election on Sunday for the state parliament in Hesse – home of Frankfurt, the heart of German finance – gave Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 27 per cent of the vote. That was good enough for first place, but down 11 per cent since the state last voted, in 2013. Germany’s Angela Merkel confronts fresh turmoil after Bavarian allies suffer worst election loss since 1950 Backing for Merkel’s coalition partner, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), also plummeted, falling from 31 per cent to 20 per cent. As the country’s two traditionally dominant centrist parties flailed, forces on either flank surged: the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the progressive Greens. The latter was vying with the SPD for second place. The outcome was an almost exact replay of results in Bavaria two weeks ago , when the CDU’s sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), was humbled in a state where it has long been ascendant. After that vote, Merkel allies blamed the CSU’s rightward lurch on immigration for its poor results. But Sunday’s vote suggests the CDU’s image has also taken a hit during a year when the nation’s politics have been dominated by a sustained feud within Merkel’s government. The CDU has governed Hesse for nearly 20 years, and the party campaigned on an enviable record in the state of ultralow unemployment, high wages and minimal crime. But analysts said that voters treated the election as a referendum on the national government, and their reviews of Berlin’s performance were poor. With the CDU suffering its worst result in Hesse in decades, it was not clear whether its run in power in the state would continue. The CDU is expected to try to forge a coalition with the Greens but may need others. If the party does relinquish control of the state government, that would be seen as a major blow to Merkel ahead of the CDU’s annual conference, in December, when she will be seeking reelection as party chairwoman. Although the party has remained relatively united behind its leader in public, discontent has been building as the CDU’s fortunes have sunk. Canada and Germany rethink Saudi defence deals after Khashoggi killing The results in Bavaria and now, apparently, Hesse, mirror political trends nationwide. The CDU won a third of the vote in last September’s German election – an historically poor performance for the party that has dominated the country’s post-war politics. But current polls show the CDU not even winning a quarter of the national vote. The SPD has seen a similarly steep drop nationally, with Germany’s oldest political party falling from second place to fourth, behind the Greens and the AfD.