Local elections NRW: SPD in relegation battle

When Bärbel Bas in Gelsenkirchen climbs out of the car, enjoying himself crowded around them. “Hello Bärbel,” says member of the state parliament Christin Siebel and grabs her hand firmly. The party leader from Duisburg is a hope for the battered SPD here. “She talks plain text. It is great with us. Of course she has plenty of fans,” says a Gelsenkirchen Social Democrat.

Optimism, the SPD can use it. In North Rhine -Westphalia, local elections are due on September 14th – and it is not just about hundreds of mayors and district councilors, but also about the first major political mood test since the federal election in February. A mood test for the black and red coalition in Berlin, which went into the summer break with many unresolved problems.

NRW – a yardstick for the federal government

Because NRW is not only the most populous federal state, but also a kind of blueprint of the republic: large cities and rural areas, structural change, over -indebted municipalities, migration. Around 13.7 million people are entitled to vote-more than live together in the East German federal states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Struck in the Herzkammer

According to a Forsa survey from the beginning of July, the CDU, SPD and the Greens are at risk of the local elections, while AfD and the left would increase. The SPD could land nationwide at 22 percent – still significantly better than recently in the federal government, but sobering for NRW. The Social Democrats are fighting for their former heart chamber – and it is a relegation battle: struck where you were once unbeatable.

In the Bundestag election in February they made it again. Between Duisburg and Dortmund, the Ruhr area: red. But already here you showed what many fear: The AfD is close to the heels in the “Pott”. The SPD candidate Markus Töns won the direct mandate in the former stronghold of Gelsenkirchen. For the second vote for the party, the AfD was for the first time very thin. Essen II, Duisburg II: Also scarce.

Political scientist Norbert Kersting from the University of Münster believes that an AfD politician could move into a larger town hall in North Rhine-Westphalia. In these communities, coalitions are usually necessary for majorities. “This probably fails in the long term due to the existing fire wall of the parties, which rigorously distance themselves from the AfD,” he says. Kersting advises to deal with the party. “In the municipal area, AfD politicians often lack the necessary expertise in the diverse municipal subject areas,” he says.

BAS now comes to support the relegation fighters: she sagged her own constituency Duisburg I in February. Now she shakes hands, strokes dogs – and sometimes drinks a beer. The SPD boss is looking for contact.

Her co-party leader Lars Klingbeil was also on the road in the NRW municipal election campaign. He opened the Cranger Kirmes, the big folk festival in Herne, all around the corner. But the mood is clear: if someone can really convince people of social democracy, then it is probably Bas. “We hope that she will work for the region,” says the campaign manager of the Gelsenkirchen OB candidate Andrea Henze. That she does not want to shake the pension and also make officials deposit – this depends in North Rhine -Westphalia regardless of the criticism of experts.

The 57 -year -old BAS is considered a prototype of a social democrat: daughter of a bus driver and a housewife. Down -to -earth. After the secondary school, she learned to weld, graduated from evening. She came to the SPD through her work as a works council. On her website she confesses her passion for football (“MSV-Live on Radio Duisburg”), crime novels, the British pop greats Sting and The Police as well as currywurst, fries and Köpi (King Pilsener)-a Ruhrpott beer.

Does the SPD need more BAS?

When the Federal Minister of Labor was elected head of the Bundes-SPD at the end of June, some people were divided: You would also like to see BAS as the top candidate of the SPD for the NRW state election 2027. “BAS as the challenger of CDU President Wüst in NRW? The double leadership of the NRW-SPD, Sarah Philipp and Achim Post, is considered to be little profiled in comparison.

So does the SPD need more politicians like BAS? Dirk Wiese, manager of the parliamentary group, already sees such people. “The SPD is strongly present in NRW and deeply rooted in the area,” he told the German press agency. “Frank Dudda in Herne, Sören Link in Duisburg, Andrea Henze in Gelsenkirchen, Ralf Paul Bittner in Arnsberg or Nicole Reschke in Freudenberg are just a few examples of down -to -earth and pragmatic candidates in the race for the town halls.”

Wiese has its constituency in Hochsauerland – it is also that of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). He does not believe that the performance of the Merz coalition in Berlin has a major impact on the local elections. “As known as the largest and economically strong federal state, NRW is self -confident and independent,” he says. The decisive factor is understanding the everyday problems of people, grip and credibility “and we are strong at the SPD on site”. The AfD, on the other hand, is not in the slightest in the challenges of employees. “Like the wolf, she is in sheep’s clothing and only has a view of the big capital.”