http://www.theweek.co.uk/76238/anti-migrant-party-beats-angela-merkels-cdu-party-on-home-turf
Anti-migrant party beats Angela Merkel's CDU party on home turf
German chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has been beaten into third place behind the Social Democrats (SPD) and right-wing, anti-migrant party Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) during regional elections in her constituency of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Projections following yesterday's election showed the SPD comfortably in front with 30.5 per cent of the vote, followed by AfD on 21 per cent and the CDU on 19 per cent.
BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill described the result as "humiliating for Angela Merkel - not least because this was on home turf", calling the election a "significant test ahead of next year's general election".
The election focused very strongly on Germany's current refugee policy, with AfD candidates openly questioning the Merkel government's "open door" approach to the migrant crisis.
The poll - the first of five regional votes due to take place before the national electon next September - is largely symbolic, and "will not have a direct impact on the workings of the German government", says The Guardian.
However, AfD candidate Lief-Erik Holm said: "The icing on the cake is that we have left Merkel's CDU behind us. Maybe that is the beginning of the end of Merkel's time as chancellor."