The result of the elections in the German state of Hessen are rather interesting. A year ago the SDP formed a coalition with the Greens and the Left Party, despite having gone into the election promising never to go into a coalition with The Left. New elections had to be called and the electorate have punished the SPD, whose vote has collapsed from 37% to 23% according to exit polls. The CDU has polled 37% and will now form a coalition with the economically liberal (some would say Thatcherite) FDP, whose vote has increased to 16%. The FDP is very much in favour of a tax cutting agenda.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
German Right Triumph in Hessen Election
The result of the elections in the German state of Hessen are rather interesting. A year ago the SDP formed a coalition with the Greens and the Left Party, despite having gone into the election promising never to go into a coalition with The Left. New elections had to be called and the electorate have punished the SPD, whose vote has collapsed from 37% to 23% according to exit polls. The CDU has polled 37% and will now form a coalition with the economically liberal (some would say Thatcherite) FDP, whose vote has increased to 16%. The FDP is very much in favour of a tax cutting agenda.
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17 comments:
37% to 23%? That's a 14% drop. Would love to see Brown beat that.
exactly why is this interesting?
It's interesting to me, Canvas, and that's all you need to know!
Iain, OK, fair enough. I was just asking because I thought your obscure german stats might have a cryptic meaning - or nuance.
whatever.
Ach du liebe
PS
Iain, WHAT have you done to Kerry McCarthy MP?
hahaha!!! now that Kerry McCarthy article is FAR more interesting than some boring German stats.
Iain, what exactly did you say about gender and blogging?
Do you think blogging is a man's world? Somehow, I don't think you actually do...
merkal is a douche, the german goverment won't let helicopters fly at night because it could be dangerous...
Have just left a comment on her site. I may blog on this myself later, after I have calmed down after the excitement of watching the Hammers win.
Canvas, whereabouts in Essex do you live?
why do you ask? haha
I don't live in Essex
Round here, we call it "South Suffolk"
Good result
Iain, is this the same CDU who most of your regulars regard as some sort of alien monster, hellbent on enslaving poor Britain in a tyrannical superstate?
Er, yes.
One cannot help but wonder then, given your obvious satisfaction at their victory, why you do not more challenge the said supporters on matters European.
Could it be that you are in fact, along with your Leaders, a little confused on the subject?
Despairing Liberal, the CDU is the Conservative Party's sister party. Excellent relations exist between the two. We just happen to disagree on Europe. Simple as that.
It is clear that Iain Dale knows next to nothing about the German political scene judging from his spin on the result of the State elections in Hessen. (Though I suppose this is par for the course given his tendency to twist the facts to suit his own political persuasion.) Firstly the Social Democrats, Green and Left Party never succeeded in putting together a coalition simply because of opposition to the idea within the socialist group in the State parliament. This is why the election was called, there being no other combination of parties which would have an overall majority. Since last year's election, the CDU leader Roland Koch has led a caretaker minority government. Indeed, prior to that election, the CDU had enjoyed a comfortable overall majority but suffered a devastating loss of votes and seats, resulting in a stalemate in the state parliament. In the election on Sunday he did little better than last year, increasing the party's vote by a mere 0.4%. While it is true to say the Social Democrats suffered a major set-back, this was hardly surprising given the divisions in the party. The big winners were the Free Democrats (often called the Liberals) who put on 6.8% and the Greens who increased their vote by 6.2%. Even the Left Party was up 0.3%. Roland Koch has only succeeded in hanging on to power because of the willingness of the Free Democrats to form a coalition with the CDU. As for the claim by Iain Dale that the Free Democrats are a right wing, Thatcherite, party, they and their leadership would be deeply offended by such a suggestion. They are after all allies of the British Liberals Democrats in the European Parliament and have long had strong links with British Liberals. They are too the most federalist of the German parties when it comes to the development of the European Union. Like their British counterparts they have strongly opposed the way in which the Federal Government in Berlin, led by the CDU, has sought, on so-called security grounds, to interfere in the lives of individual citizens, and unlike both the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats have long opposed compulsory military conscription which still operates in Germany. The Free Democrats are a thoroughly liberal party, and while some sections of the British Conservative Party might feel happy within their ranks, I doubt whether most Tories would.
What Graham said. The Hessen result is more of a consequence of Ypsilanti's (and others' within the social democrat SPD) spectacular bungling of a potential coalition than a strong swing to the right - and calling the FDP 'the right' is not one hundred percent accurate as it is.
Even so, it's good that Hessen is out of its stalemate, even if that means watching the insufferable Roland Koch's smugness approach previous levels.
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