# SUE REID: Germany in shock as hard-Right party stands on the brink of power

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/sue-reid-germany-in-shock-as-hard-right-party-stands-on-the-brink-of-power/
- Published: 2026-09-07T03:37:04+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-07T09:43:09+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16110337/SUE-REID-Germany-shock-hard-Right-party-brink-power.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Culture, Europe, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- AfD wins 44.5% in Saxony-Anhalt exit poll, a historic hard-Right breakthrough
- CDU support collapses from 36% to 18%, deepening Merz's leadership crisis
- Merz expected to cut funding and maintain political "firewall" against AfD

## Summary

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has finished the Saxony-Anhalt state election as the clear leading party, according to an exit poll giving it 44.5 per cent of the vote, putting it on course to control a regional parliament for the first time since the Nazi era. The result marks a watershed for German politics, delivering a severe blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), whose support in the eastern state collapsed from 36 per cent four years ago to just 18 per cent, and intensifying questions over his leadership nationally.

AfD's regional leader, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, hailed the outcome as historic, telling supporters the momentum built in Saxony-Anhalt was "sweeping across all of Germany" and could not be stopped. The party, which campaigns on deporting illegal migrants, closing the border and reversing wind-farm expansion, drew strength from lingering nostalgia for communist East Germany and resentment over the enduring east-west wealth gap. Merz is expected to respond by cutting state funding to Saxony-Anhalt and maintaining a "firewall" with Left-wing parties to bar AfD politicians from sensitive intelligence briefings over unproven Russian-links allegations, while thousands rallied against the party in Magdeburg and analysts warned his already record-low approval ratings, linked to unresolved migration pressures since 2015, would fuel louder calls for new CDU leadership.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: SUE REID: Germany in shock as hard-Right party stands on the brink of power](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16110337/SUE-REID-Germany-shock-hard-Right-party-brink-power.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [Fox News: Germany’s far-right party AfD surges to historic victory in state election](https://www.foxnews.com/world/germanys-far-right-party-afd-surges-historic-victory-state-election)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.