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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kate Connolly in Berlin

Anti-immigration leftists have potential to upend German political scene

Midshot of woman in turquoise against light background
Previously the face of Die Linke, the eponymous party of Sahra Wagenknecht has stormed the political charts. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

It was, Sahra Wagenknecht declared on the social media platform X on Sunday, “a historic result” achieved from almost a standing start. Within eight months, her leftwing-conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has gone from an upstart party of breakaway populists to a decisive player with the potential to upend the German political scene.

The BSW party’s third place position in state elections in the eastern states of Thuringia (16%) and Saxony (12%), behind the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), now puts it in the position of kingmaker.

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