German state election a test for chancellor Friedrich Merz

Leader’s centre-right CDU party is hoping to beat Greens in Sunday’s election in Baden-Württemberg Friedrich Merz’s centre-right CDU faces a regional election on Sunday, the first of several this year in which it hopes to stem the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Voters will head to the polls in Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous hub of Germany’s auto sector with a population of 11.2 million. A year after winning national elections, the CDU is aiming to snatch first place in the south-western state from the Greens, who have won the last two state elections. Merz’s party until recently enjoyed large poll leads in the state, but these have shrunk in recent months. The latest survey put the CDU and the Greens neck and neck on 28%. Leading the CDU into the election is Manuel Hagel, 37, a former bank branch manager whose campaign hit a rough patch over comments he made about female students during a school visit in 2018, which were judged sexist and inappropriate. He has since apologised for the remarks. The Greens’ lead candidate is Cem Özdemir, 60, who, if he wins, would become Germany’s first state premier of Turkish heritage. The AfD has been polling at 18%, whi