A left-behind Baltic Sea state took revenge on Angela Merkel’s CDU, which had done too little for too long to help the region
Less than four years ago, Erik von Malottki’s main objective was to keep the party he loved as far away from political power as possible. Inspired by young activist grassroots movements in the US and the UK, the trade unionist was one of a band of young Social Democratic Party (SPD) members who in January 2018 urged delegates to vote against joining another coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.
Yet this week, the now 35-year-old and a band of similarly aged delegates propelled the German centre-left to an unlikely election victory. While the British Labour party remains entrenched in factionalism, the SPD has constructively channelled the energy of its youthful rebels, edging ahead in Sunday’s vote through a seismic shift in the country’s north-east.