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BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative Christian Democrats lost their absolute majority in key city state elections in Hamburg yesterday, while Germany's new radical left wing Left party won seats in the northern port for the first time.
Merkel's party dropped its share of the vote from 47 to 42.5 per cent, losing the city mayor, Ole von Beust, absolute control of the city. The poll was seen as a key test of the Chancellor's ability to stem a swing to the left ahead of Germany's general election next year.
The opposition Social Democrats raised their share of the vote by 4 points to 34 per cent, leaving them without enough seats to fulfil their ambition to form a so-called Red-Green coalition with the Green party, which won 9.5 per cent of the vote.
The Left party won 6.5 per cent of the vote and entered the city state parliament for the first time. The gains followed similar election successes for the party, which contains many former Communist Party members, in polls in the western states of Hesse and Lower Saxony last month.
None of Germany's main parties will accept the idea of a coalition with the Left party at national level.
- Independent
