AfD faces first election since revelations about mass deportation meeting

The far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party has been narrowly beaten in its first electoral test since revelations came to light of its involvement in a plan for the mass deportation of foreigners that has sparked huge protests across Germany. Its candidate lost against a conservative rival in a district administrative election the importance of which resonated far beyond the local area.

In a tight second-round runoff in the district of Saale-Orla in the south-eastern state of Thuringia, the AfD candidate, Uwe Thrum, had victory snatched from him by his Christian Democrat (CDU) rival Christian Herrgott by 4.6 percentage points.

The vote, in which about 66,000 people were eligible to cast their ballot, was seen as a gauge as to whether the mobilisation of civil society against the anti-immigrant AfD since the recent revelations about the deportation plan had dented or bolstered the party’s popularity.

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