2021 German federal election

The **2021 German federal election** was held on 26 September 2021.

## Parties

Incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her retirement from politics in October 2018, by announcing she will not run for re-election for CDU Leader and Chancellor.

### Major

These parties have received at least 4% of the national vote in the last German federal election, and are predicted to win seats in this next election.
- Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU): led by Armin Laschet. The party is liberal conservative and pro-European Union. Together with the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), a conservative party.
- Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): led by Olaf Scholz. The party supports social democracy and is pro-European Union.
- Alternative for Germany (AfD): led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. The party is nationalistic and is against the European Union.
- Free Democratic Party (FDP): led by Christian Lindner. The party supports classical liberalism and economic liberalism. The FDP is also pro-European Union.
- The Left: led by Janine Wissler and Dietmar Bartsch. The Left is a democratic socialist party.
- Alliance '90/The Greens: led by Annalena Baerbock. The party supports green politics and is pro-European Union.

### Minor

These parties received at least 0.5% of the national vote in the last German federal election.
- Pirate Party Germany: supports preserving civil rights and reforming copyright laws. Also supports greater government transparency and an unconditional basic income.
- Free Voters: not a registered political party. The association attracts many conservative voters in the south.
- Die PARTEI: led by Martin Sonneborn. The party is satirical and populist.
- Human Environment Animal Protection: led by Stefan Bernhard Eck, Barbara Nauheimer and Horst Wester. The party is environmentalist and supports animal rights.

## Other websites

- Comprehensive results of the 2017 federal election

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 2021 German federal election
- **country**: Germany
- **type**: parliamentary
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 2017 German federal election
- **previous year**: 2017
- **next election**: 2025 German federal election
- **next year**: 2025
- **outgoing members**: List of members of the 19th Bundestag
- **seats for election**: All 735 seats in the Bundestag, including 137 overhang seat, overhang and leveling seats
- **majority seats**: 368
- **registered**: 61,172,771
- **turnout**: 46,298,338	(76.4%)  0.2 percentage point, pp
- **opinion polls**: Opinion polling for the 2021 German federal election
- **candidate1**: Olaf Scholz
- **leader since1**: 10 August 2020
- **party1**: Social Democratic Party of Germany
- **leaders seat1**: Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming II
- **last election1**: 20.5%, 153 seats
- **seats1**: **206**
- **seat change1**: 53
- **popular vote1**: **11,901,556**
- **percentage1**: **25.7%**
- **swing1**: 5.2 pp
- **candidate2**: Armin Laschet
- **party2**: CDU/CSU
- **leader since2**: 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election, 16 January 2021
- **leaders seat2**: North Rhine-Westphalia (list)
- **last election2**: 32.9%, 246 seats
- **seats2**: 196
- **seat change2**: 50
- **popular vote2**: 11,177,746
- **percentage2**: 24.1%
- **swing2**: 8.8 pp
- **candidate3**: Annalena Baerbock
- **leader since3**: 27 January 2018
- **party3**: Alliance 90/The Greens
- **leaders seat3**: Brandenburg (list)
- **last election3**: 8.9%, 67 seats
- **seats3**: 118
- **seat change3**: 51
- **popular vote3**: 6,814,401
- **percentage3**: 14.7%
- **swing3**: 5.8 pp
- **candidate4**: Christian Lindner
- **leader since4**: 7 December 2013
- **party4**: Free Democratic Party (Germany)
- **leaders seat4**: North Rhine-Westphalia (list)
- **last election4**: 10.7%, 80 seats
- **seats4**: 91
- **seat change4**: 11
- **popular vote4**: 5,291,010
- **percentage4**: 11.4%
- **swing4**: 0.7 pp
- **candidate5**: Alice Weidel &
Tino Chrupalla
- **leader since5**: 24 May 2021
30 November 2019
- **party5**: Alternative for Germany
- **leaders seat5**: Baden-Württemberg (list)
Görlitz (electoral district), Görlitz
- **last election5**: 12.6%, 94 seats
- **seats5**: 83
- **seat change5**: 11
- **popular vote5**: 4,809,228
- **percentage5**: 10.4%
- **swing5**: 2.2 pp
- **candidate6**: Janine Wissler &
Dietmar Bartsch
- **leader since6**: 27 February 2021
2 May 2021
- **party6**: The Left (Germany)
- **leaders seat6**: Hesse (list)
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (list)
- **last election6**: 9.2%, 69 seats
- **seats6**: 39
- **seat change6**: 30
- **popular vote6**: 2,255,860
- **percentage6**: 4.9%
- **swing6**: 4.3 pp
- **title**: Chancellor of Germany
- **before election**: Angela Merkel
- **before party**: CDU/CSU–Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD
- **posttitle**: Chancellor after election
- **after election**: Olaf Scholz
- **after party**: Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD–FDP–Greens