Germany’s far-right party tripled support in municipal elections in the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia, intensifying pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to revive growth and push through reforms.
In the country’s most-populous state, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) increased its share of the vote by 9.4 percentage points to 14.5% and narrowly missed winning the mayor’s race in the industrial city of Gelsenkirchen, according to preliminary results compiled by Infratest dimap for public broadcaster WDR on Sunday.
In the first electoral test for the new government, Merz’s Christian Democrats remained the strongest force in the state, while falling 1 point to 33.3%. The co-ruling Social Democrats (SPD), which once counted the industry-heavy state as a stronghold, declined 2.2 points to 22.1%.
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