SPD loses in local elections in Lower Saxony – Lies sees federal politics as a burden
Quick Look
- According to projections, the SPD achieved 24.5 percent in the local elections in Lower Saxony and lost significantly compared to 2021.
- The CDU got 27.7 percent, the AfD more than tripled its result to 16.5 percent.
- Prime Minister Olaf Lies explained the result with the strained federal politics and saw the SPD as a deeply rooted local people's party despite losses.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The SPD currently governs Lower Saxony with Olaf Lies as Prime Minister, who took over the office from Stephan Weil last year. The local elections are seen as a mood test before the state elections in September of next year.
Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Olaf Lies described the SPD's performance in the local elections as a "difficult result". “We all hoped for more,” said the SPD state chairman on election evening. At the same time, he referred to the successes of social democratic candidates in individual cities, districts and municipalities.
According to an extrapolation by Infratest dimap on behalf of the NDR, the SPD came to 24.5 percent nationwide. This means that it lost significantly compared to the 2021 local elections, when it achieved 5.5 percentage points more at the district level. According to the projection, the CDU was ahead with 27.7 percent - with a loss of 4.0 percentage points. The official preliminary result is expected on Monday morning.
Lies sees the negative influence of federal politics
Lies also attributed his party's performance to the national political mood. Lower Saxony is “not completely immune” to the influences of the past few weeks at the federal level. Trust in the established parties is strained. As things currently stand, this stream of voters is not flowing to other democratic forces, but rather “to the fringes,” said Lies.
According to projections, the AfD made particularly strong gains: it reached 16.5 percent and could more than triple its 2021 result of 4.6 percent. The Greens then lose slightly and reached 13.6 percent. The Left improved significantly to 5.9 percent, while the FDP fell back to 3.6 percent.
Read: SPD is “a deeply rooted people’s party” in Lower Saxony
Despite the losses, Lies sees the SPD as still having a strong local position. In many municipalities, people expressed their trust in committed social democrats, sometimes by a large margin. This shows that, despite the difficult situation in Berlin and the strengthening of the AfD in Lower Saxony, the SPD is "a deeply rooted people's party" and remains capable of shaping things locally.
For Lies, these were the first nationwide elections since he took over as Prime Minister from Stephan Weil last year. In the Lower Saxony state elections in September next year, he is likely to run as the SPD's top candidate against CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Olaf Lies is running as the SPD's top candidate in the state elections in September next year against Sebastian Lechner.
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- How will the result affect next year's state elections?
- What concrete consequences does the SPD draw from the loss at the federal level?
- Can the SPD use its local commitment to reverse the trend?