German far right makes major gains in Bavaria local elections

Bavaria's conservatives came in first in the southern German state's local elections, but had to concede slight losses as the far right made gains across the region, official results showed on Wednesday.

The Christian Social Union (CSU) is the Bavaria-only sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) and traditionally the strongest force in the prosperous, conservative state.

Sunday's local elections saw the CSU take first place again at 32.5%, but it was down from 34.5% in the last vote in 2020 and constitutes the party's worst local election result since 1952.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has managed to sustain a surge in support since it came in second in national elections last year, won 12.2% - a massive gain from the 4.7% achieved in Bavaria's last local polls.

The Greens came in second with 13.6%, a significant drop from the 17.5% posted in 2020.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), which tends to do well in major cities like Munich, was third at 12.3%, reaching another historic low after achieving a mere 13.7% in Bavaria six years ago.

The CDU and SPD make up the national government, but the SPD, traditionally Germany's second major political faction alongside the conservatives, has been struggling with a sustained slump following the collapse of the previous administration led by Olaf Scholz.

Both parties face major tests at the ballot box this year. In the first of five regional votes, the CDU narrowly lost out to the Greens in the south-western state of Baden-Würrtemberg on Sunday.

The vote in Bavaria decided the make-up of local parliaments, while mayoral posts were also up for grabs, though many of them will be decided in run-off votes next week.