Scholz wants to help Kuchaty – and goes swimming: is the chancellor to blame for the SPD flop?
Created: 05/17/2022, 05:12
By: Markus Hofstetter
The SPD achieved a disastrous result in the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2022.
One reason for this could be federal political issues.
Düsseldorf/Berlin - On May 15, over 13 million citizens in North Rhine-Westphalia were called upon to elect a new state parliament.
The state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia are therefore considered an important mood test for federal politics - this time not least for Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Scholz and the state elections in NRW 2022: disastrous mood test for Chancellor Scholz
This test was disastrous for Scholz, just eight months after the victorious federal election in 2021. According to the preliminary final result, his SPD only got 26.7 percent in the most important election of this year, a decrease of 4.6 percent the previous choice.
It is the worst election result of the comrades in the almost 73-year history of North Rhine-Westphalia.
SPD top candidate Thomas Kutschaty had an opponent in Hendrik Wüst (CDU), who had only been in office for a few months and therefore did not have a particularly strong office bonus.
Chancellor Scholz's campaign support for SPD top candidate Kuchaty was rather counterproductive in the 2022 NRW state elections © Revierfoto/imago
Scholz and the state elections in NRW 2022: Voters are interested in federal political issues
After the Schleswig-Holstein election, this is the second defeat of the SPD within eight days.
The question arises: Did Scholz promote the defeat of the SPD with his policy?
This cannot be measured, but there are some indications.
Surveys conducted by the infratest dimap institute on behalf of ARD show that voters in North Rhine-Westphalia are strongly influenced by federal and global political issues.
For 19 percent, price increases played a role in their voting decision, for 17 percent the climate, for 16 percent the energy supply and for 12 percent the war in Ukraine.
However, the result of another infratest-dimap survey contradicts the thesis that Scholz is primarily to blame for the poor performance of the SPD.
Accordingly, 46 percent of NRW citizens are of the opinion that Scholz is pursuing the right course in Ukraine politics, 38 percent do not think so.
In addition, 55 percent are satisfied with the federal government, 41 percent are dissatisfied.
Scholz and the 2022 NRW election: support for the Chancellor's election campaign has a negative impact
Nevertheless, Scholz does not seem to be particularly well liked in NRW.
According to infratest dimap, only 35 percent of voters see Scholz as a great support for the SPD in the state.
This is the worst value of the politicians surveyed.
Friedrich Merz (CDU) has a value of 36 percent, Christian Lindner (FDP) 50 percent and Robert Habeck (Greens) 57 percent.
Nevertheless, Scholz had made the election his own to some extent, especially in the final phase.
On election posters for the last two weeks of the campaign, Chancellor and candidate could be seen next to the slogan: "Together for NRW and Germany." On Friday they appeared together at a major event at Cologne Cathedral in front of 1,500 spectators.
The political scientist Volker Kronenberg even said in an interview with the
Kölnische Rundschau
that Scholz's campaign support had had rather negative effects.
The SPD is suffering from its federal politics, especially from the Ukraine conflict.
Scholz and the 2022 NRW election: No impact on federal politics expected
It seems that Chancellor Scholz, and thus also the SPD, received the receipt for his policies from the electorate.
It remains to be seen whether he will assume a certain degree of responsibility for the result of the NRW state elections.
However, no impact on federal politics is expected.
The SPD Prime Minister of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, does not expect any major changes in the course of the federal government.
"I believe that the effects on federal politics will be limited, at least on the SPD side," Rehlinger said on Deutschlandfunk on Monday.
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