2026 Berlin state election

2026 Berlin state election

2026

First party Second party Third party   Party CDU SPD Greens Last election 52 seats, 28.2% 34 seats, 18.4% 34 seats, 18.4%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Left AfD Last election 22 seats, 12.2% 17 seats, 9.1%

Government before election Wegner senate CDU–SPD Elected Government TBD

The next election to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin is scheduled for 2026.

Background

In the 2023 Berlin repeat state election With 28% of votes, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) grew by over ten percentage points and emerged as the largest party by a wide margin, the first time it had done so since 1999. All three governing parties declined; the SPD suffered its worst result in over a century with 18.4%, and only barely remained ahead of the Greens by a margin of 53 votes. The Left also slipped to 12%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded a small upswing to 9%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell to 4.6% and lost all their seats. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. The CDU claimed a mandate to govern given its first-place result, while mayor Franziska Giffey committed to remaining in government. The Left called for a renewal of the outgoing coalition.

After various talks between parties, the SPD and CDU voted at the beginning of March to begin negotiations for a grand coalition. CDU leader Kai Wegner was approved as mayor on 27 April after three rounds of voting.

Electoral system

The Abgeordnetenhaus is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 78 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 52 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation, distributed in each of Berlin's twelve boroughs. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The minimum size of the Abgeordnetenhaus is 130 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Abgeordnetenhaus; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded from the Abgeordnetenhaus. However, parties which win at least one single-member constituency are exempt from the threshold and will be allocated seats proportionally, even if they fall below 5%.

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	Linke	AfD	FDP	BSW	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	14–18 Nov 2024	1,179	27	12	20	6	15	4	7	9	7
INSA	1–7 Jul 2024	1,000	26	18	15	7	12	4	12	6	8
European Parliament election	9 Jun 2024	–	17.6	13.2	19.6	7.3	11.6	4.3	8.7	17.7	2.0
Infratest dimap	18–22 Apr 2024	1,174	27	15	20	10	12	3	6	7	7
INSA	22–29 Jan 2024	1,000	29	16	17	10	13	4	–	11	12
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	1,159	29	15	19	10	15	4	–	8	10
INSA	18–26 Sep 2023	1,000	26	17	18	10	14	5	–	10	8
Wahlkreisprognose	25 Jul – 2 Aug 2023	1,000	24.5	16	16.5	13.5	16	4	–	9.5	8
INSA	27 Mar – 3 Apr 2023	1,000	30	18	18	11	9	5	–	9	12
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	N/A	28.2	18.4	18.4	12.2	9.1	4.6	–	9.0	9.8

West Berlin

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	Linke	AfD	FDP	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	–	31	17	20	8	13	4	7	11
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	–	31.1	19.9	19.8	9.0	6.8	7.0	6.4	11.2

East Berlin

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	Linke	SPD	Grüne	AfD	FDP	Others	Lead
Infratest dimap	12–16 Oct 2023	–	26	12	14	18	17	3	10	8
2023 state election	12 Feb 2023	–	24.3	16.6	16.4	16.4	12.2	3.7	10.4	0.2

See also

• Politics of Berlin