State elections could spell doom for Germany's oldest party

"The center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Germany's first political party, are struggling to muster their optimism in a year when five of Germany's 16 federal states are set to elect new parliaments. According to the latest opinion polls, the SPD could be voted out of power in two states that is has governed for decades. In two others, the SPD is polling in the single digits."

"The SPD was founded as a traditional workers party in 1863, which makes it the country's oldest political party. In that period, it aimed to be the political representative of factory workers, whose precarious lives were characterized by long working hours, low wages, job insecurity, a lack of occupational safety and a housing shortage. Blue collar workers became the SPD's voter base, buying into the promise of education, equal opportunities and equal rights for all, regardless of class or origin."

"According to a survey by pollster Forsa in November 2025, only 9% of Germany's blue-collar workers and the unemployed said they would vote for the SPD. Those who feel socially disadvantaged now tend to sympathize with the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). After the general election in February 2025, an infratest-dimap poll found that 38% of working class voters had cast their ballot for the AfD."

The SPD began in 1863 as a workers' party representing factory laborers who faced long hours, low wages, insecure jobs, poor safety and housing shortages. Blue-collar workers formed the party's core, attracted by promises of education, equal opportunity and rights. Structural social and economic changes have eroded the traditional working class as many industrial workers moved into the middle class. Polls in 2025 show dramatic declines in SPD support among blue-collar and disadvantaged voters, with significant defections to the far-right AfD and to the socialist Left Party after dissatisfaction with past SPD welfare policies.

Read at www.dw.com