What possible coalition options are available to conservative leader Friedrich Merz? Try our DW News coalition calculator: p.dw.com/p/4qws7

All in all, it will be interesting to watch how Social Democrats, Greens and - if they enter the Bundestag - the new BSW will position themselves around the newly empowered Left party. Stay tuned with our DW News Live Blog: t.co/P9llzg9im0

Curious to see in upcoming voter-migration data whether the governing Greens particularly lost the climate and migration vote to the Left party after dominating the young voter base in previous years.

Most new members are under 28 years old, confirming that the Left’s campaign appealed particularly to young voters and their issues (cost of living, housing crisis, climate change). It also reached them where they are, especially on TikTok. t.co/U7ndCMBMBi

Viral moments and recognisable faces ignited and accelerated the sudden voter shift, yet policy and platforms were equally important for the sudden popularity. With now a record-high 81k members, they gained a fourth alone in 2025.

Reichinnek was able to build on the momentum with three wingmen; the self-proclaimed ‘Silberlocken’ (silver-haired). Party grandees Gysi, Ramelow and Bartsch targeted core Left voters in a hail-mary campaign for three direct mandates as insurance against a new potential sub-5%.

First decisive campaign moment for Left party was probably the now-viral speech by faction lead Heidi Reichinnek in late January. She criticised CDU leader Friedlich Merz for allowing votes by far-right AfD to support his migration policies in parliament.

Did Wagenknecht’s exit to her new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (short: BSW), contribute to the Left result? Her politics brought friction to the party and had some Left voters disagreeing with her anti-migration stance. BSW still scratching at 5% hurdle: t.co/tzMbFynK6T

Some context: in 2021 the successor to the GDR state party SED narrowly stayed in parliament and overcame the required 5% clause only by winning three direct mandates. The fallout with former party doyenne Sahra Wagenknecht saw polls plummet down to 3 per cent in 2024.

DW News is now live streaming the lead candidates debate ('Elefantenrunde', if you want to brush up your politics German) live on YouTube with English translations: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoS6...

#btw2025 6PM exit polls:

Exit polls in the German election put the conservative CDU/CSU bloc with 29% of the vote, followed by the far-right AfD in second place with 19.5%. p.dw.com/p/4qw2N