German far-right party makes fresh electoral breakthrough

The far-right Alternative for Germany has won its first election for mayor of a midsized German town, another milestone in the rising popularity of the party that has been boosted by voter disillusionment with the country’s ruling coalition.

Tim Lochner won 38.5 per cent of votes in Sunday’s second round ballot in Pirna, a town in eastern Germany close to the Czech border, seeing off candidates from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the liberal Free Democrats.

Lochner, a 53-year-old carpenter, is not a member of the AfD but stood as the party’s candidate.

The unpopularity of Germany’s ruling coalition was underlined by a survey published by Bild Zeitung on Saturday showing 59 per cent of people want elections next year to change the federal government even though a poll is not due until 2025.

The victory for the AfD in Pirna, a town of 40,000 inhabitants south-east of Dresden, followed a strong showing in regional elections in October.

Original article.