Germany's Social Democrats dismayed after 'watershed' state vote loss

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) faces difficult discussions about personnel and priorities after a chastening defeat in the state election in Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday.

"Of course I bear responsibility," said co-leader Lars Klingbeil, who also serves as the country's vice chancellor.

He said the loss in the wine-producing state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which followed a calamitous result in neighbouring Baden-Württemberg two weeks ago in the first of five state elections across Germany this year, would "trigger personnel debates."

Klingbeil's co-chief Bärbel Bas agreed, saying voters' loss of trust in the party, which is in coalition with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives at the national level, has built up over years and runs deep.

"We cannot carry on as before," Bas said. "That is completely clear."

Sunday's vote showed the party dropping to a historic low in Rhienland-Palatinate, where it has governed for 35 years, falling to 25.8% of the vote according to updated projections.

At the last election in 2021, the party had achieved 35.7% of the vote.

The SPD also suffered a historic setback on Sunday in Munich, where Mayor Dieter Reiter was set to lose to Green challenger Dominik Krause.

Bas, Germany's labour minister, told public broadcaster ZDF that the result in Rhineland-Palatinate "is indeed very bitter."

"There's no sugar-coating it," she added. "This is a watershed result for us."

She said the SPD's chapter in Rhineland-Palatinate had done everything it could, but was affected by the national party's unpopularity.

"The national level certainly had an impact on the result in Rhineland-Palatinate," Bas said.