Left wing parties have swept through Europe in recent elections, and they are likely to gain even more. In Berlin’s state election, held Sunday, Sept. 20, the socialist party, Die Linke, brought home a plurality of the vote, with a record-setting 25%. Up north in Sweden, the Red-Green alliance of four left-leaning parties defeated the right-wing Tidö alliance in the parliamentary election two weeks ago. Meanwhile, in the UK, London’s Zack Polanski is within reach of a parliamentary seat in the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency. Should Polanski win, the Greens will secure their first MP seat in London in their history.
In Berlin, Die Linke’s popularity is credited to its progressive housing policy and support among young voters. The housing crisis is particularly salient for Berliners, with 85% living in rental properties.
Over the past decade, the governor’s office has changed hands between coalitions led by the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). During their tenures, continued housing privatization amid rising rents, which have increased by 70% over the past decade, eroded voter confidence in the incumbents’ principles and competence.
The socialist Die Linke offers a more interventionist alternative by having the government repurchase previously privatized housing, entrust it to a democratic administration, and lease it out as rent-controlled housing. This policy, which Die Linke uses as its main campaign platform, has turned away many older voters who associate socialism with the austere days of East Germany. Among voters 70 years old and above, only 15% voted for Die Linke.
The party is highly popular among younger voters. 43% of young voters between the ages of 16 and 23 voted for Die Linke, and 49% between 25 and 34, according to an exit poll. Notably, Berlin lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 for the first time. The change and its newly enfranchised constituents amplified Die Linke’s success, as the party gained 75,000 votes among new voters.
Die Linke would need to form a coalition with other parties in order to gain a majority in the Landtag (state legislature) to govern. It is likely it will collaborate with SPD and the Greens, as they previously did in 2016. Should this government materialize, it will be Die Linke’s first return to a governing coalition in Berlin since 2016. The party’s candidate, Elif Eralp, would become the first Turkish-German to hold the office of Governing Mayor of Berlin. Their ascension to power, however, is not without uncertainty. Germany’s mainstream political parties maintain a “firewall” policy against cooperation with what they deem to be “extremist” factions, and the CDU, which holds a crucial 18% of the vote, could deny a coalition as they deem Die Linke radical left.
Die Linke had gradually built up popularity around its policy proposals, campaigning toward the interests of receptive demographics, and benefiting from compelling personalities such as Heidi Reichinnek. In these respects, the rise of European socialist parties seems to mirror that of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) closely.
In the Swedish parliamentary election on Sept. 13, the progressive coalition led by the Social Democrats (S) won by a slim margin of three seats, booting the Tidö coalition, which includes the far-right, anti-migration Sweden Democrats (SD), out of office. The Swedish left—the Social Democrats, the Left Party, and the Greens—has governed Sweden for most of the 20th century and the early 21st century. Its defeat in 2022 was attributed to its reticence on NATO at a time of Russian military threats and to social instability related to its migrant policies. According to Nicholas Aylott, a professor of politics at Södertörn University in Stockholm, the focus on migration issues, the policies implemented, and extremist sentiments targeting migrants are what came back to bite the SD. The Swedish public has become wary of stringent and morally objectionable anti-immigration policies, especially as social upheavals associated with new arrivals ended years ago. Crime cases have decreased by 80%, and asylum applications have dipped to only 1,500 this year. Across the political spectrum, migration has fallen out of relevance as a talking point for the right, if not a cause for voter desertion. Earlier this March, the Tidö-coalition government had to reverse its deportation agenda because it expected the measure to be regarded as a smudge in the coming election.
During the election, the SD’s vote share dropped by 2% to around 17%. These votes, which were believed to switch to the Center Party. The Center Party refuses to collaborate with the Left Party, whom it sees as radicals and antisemites.
In the UK, the Greens’ leader, Zack Polanski, will stand for a parliamentary seat that former Prime Minister Keir Starmer vacated in the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency in the borough of Camden in London. Polanski, who has tripled the Greens’ membership to 220,000, is now embroiled in various allegations, ranging from antisemitism to enabling political violence. His party campaigns on platforms similar to those of other European left-wing parties, including housing, environmentalism, public services, and support for Palestine.
Critics of Polanski claim that his leadership has tanked the Greens’ support. Meanwhile, the Greens are following the governing Labour Party closely, trailing by only four points. The election is set for October 8.
These victories present an optimistic outlook for the left in Europe. For struggling left-wing parties in other parts of Europe, these victories offer potential formulas for advancement. Although caution should be taken as well, incumbent fatigue and electoral-law changes—factors independent of the left’s political merit—also played a role in these victories.
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