Centre punch: Germany’s state-election shocker

September 21, 2026

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5 min read

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor, strode before the press corps in Berlin just ten minutes after the exit polls dropped. Speculation was rife that he might resign. Instead, he invoked Churchill: he would keep buggering on. But the results from two state elections that evening—one in the city-state of Berlin, the other in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern—suggest his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is being squeezed from both ends of the political spectrum, and that Germany’s once-stable politics is entering uncharted territory.

The CDU’s double blow

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU failed for the first time in its history to enter the state parliament, taking just 4.9% of the vote—below the 5% threshold. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first with around 38%, while the centre-left Social Democrats, who run the state, finished a close second with 35% and are likely to continue governing because no other party will work with the AfD. In Berlin, the CDU currently leads the governing coalition, but the hard-left Die Linke party had a “fantastic result” and now looks likely to form a government without the CDU, pushing it into opposition there as well.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:46) **Germany’s State Elections: A Double Blow for Chancellor Merz** - The CDU suffers major losses in two state elections, failing to enter parliament in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for the first time and facing a left-wing surge in Berlin.
2 (05:35) **The Reform Path and Merz’s Precarious Position** - The Chancellor insists that sticking with planned pension, labor, and economic reforms is the best way to counter populism, but the election results make that job harder.
3 (10:05) **Aliko Dangote’s Mega-IPO: Democratizing African Stock Markets** - Africa’s richest man is listing his $50 billion refinery on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, aiming to make shares available to every African.
4 (12:49) **Africa’s Stock Market Boom: Retail Investors Fuel a Rally** - Fintech apps are making stock picking accessible to millions of new, small-scale investors, driving up African indices dramatically this year.
5 (17:02) **The Truth About Blue Light and Sleep: Scrolling Might Be Fine** - Science correspondent Sam Whibley investigates the evidence behind the common warning that screen blue light disrupts sleep.
6 Standout Quotes
7 (04:52) "He said that the result in Mecklenburg for Pommern was a disaster for the CDU... But he said to channel his inner churchill essentially that he was gonna keep buggering on."

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Show Notes

Two more state-election results reveal surging support for both the far-right AfD and the populist-left Die Linke parties. Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself described the outcome as a disaster; what will it mean for him? Our correspondent looks into why there is so much enthusiasm for African stocks. And what the science says about blue-light exposure and sleep.

Guests and host:

Tom Nuttall, Berlin bureau chief
Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi, Africa correspondent
Sam Wikeley, science correspondent
Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

German politics, Friedrich Merz, AfD, Die Linke
African stockmarkets, Aliko Dangote
sleep science, blue light

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