Chancellor Olaf Scholz thus obtains a respite at a time when his popularity continues to decline in the face of the energy crisis.
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A bit of electoral respite. Olaf Scholz’s German Social Democratic Party won regional test elections in Lower Saxony on Sunday, October 9, according to television broadcasters’ estimates, at a time when the Chancellor sees his unpopularity growing in the country with the inflation.
The SPD Social Democrats won 33% of the vote in the regional state of Lower Saxony, in the north of the country, the second largest in Germany, which they have led since 2013 in coalition. They are ahead of the conservative party (CDU) of ex-chancellor Angela Merkel (2005-2021), which obtains around 28% of the vote, according to estimates by public television channels. While the far right has grown strongly, reaching around 12%, according to first estimates, double its score in 2017.
Despite growing public discontent at national level, Olaf Scholz’s party has benefited from the good local image of Lower Saxony’s Minister President, Social Democrat Stephan Weil. This saved him the humiliation of a new defeat, after two bitter electoral setbacks recorded against the center-right last spring in regional elections, in North Rhine-Westphalia and in Schleswig-Holstein.