2021 German federal election in the context of "There is no alternative"

Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, AfD, German pronunciation: [aːʔɛfˈdeː] ) is a far-right, right-wing populist, national conservative, and völkisch nationalist political party in Germany. It has 151 members of the Bundestag and 15 members of the European Parliament. It is the largest opposition party in the Bundestag and a member of the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group in the European Parliament.

Its name reflects its resistance to the mainstream policies of Angela Merkel and her slogan Alternativlosigkeit (lit. 'alternative-less-ness', a German version of "there is no alternative"). Established in April 2013, AfD narrowly missed the 5% electoral threshold to sit in the Bundestag during the 2013 federal election. The party won seven seats in the 2014 European Parliament election in Germany as a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). After securing representation in 14 of the 16 German state parliaments by October 2017, AfD won 94 seats in the 2017 federal election and became the third-largest party in the country, as well as the largest opposition party; its lead candidates were the co-vice chairman Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel, the latter having served as the party group leader in the 19th Bundestag. In the 2021 federal election, AfD dropped to being the fifth-largest party in the 20th Bundestag. Following the 2025 federal election, it became the second-largest party and the largest opposition party in the 21st Bundestag.

The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took place seven months ahead of schedule due to the 2024 collapse of the Scholz governing coalition. Following the loss of his majority, the chancellor called and intentionally lost a motion of confidence, which enabled the approval of a new election by the president. The 2025 election was the fourth snap election in post-war German history, and the first since 2005.

Three opposition parties increased their votes in the election, compared with the previous federal election in 2021. The conservative CDU/CSU alliance became the largest group in the Bundestag, with 28.5% of votes. Although this result was well below the 41.5% vote Angela Merkel had achieved in 2013 and its second to worst since 1949, it positioned them to lead the new government. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8% doubled its share and achieved its best result in nation-wide German elections, moving into second place, without any other party willing to work with them. The socialist Left party, polling well under 5% until January 2025, massively improved within a few weeks to 9%. On the other hand, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a populist splinter from the Left, fell in the polls, and at 4.98% narrowly failed to enter the Bundestag.

Alice Elisabeth Weidel (German: [aˈliːs eˈliːzabɛt ˈvaɪdl̩]; born 6 February 1979) is a German far-right politician who has been serving as co-chairwoman of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party alongside Tino Chrupalla since June 2022. Since October 2017, she has held the position of leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

Weidel became a member of the Bundestag (MdB) in the 2017 federal election, where she was the AfD's lead candidate alongside Alexander Gauland. In the 2021 federal election, she once again served as their lead candidate, alongside Tino Chrupalla. From February 2020 to July 2022, Weidel held the position of chairwoman of the AfD state association in Baden-Württemberg. In 2024, she was selected as her party's candidate for Chancellor in the 2025 German federal election.

This is a list of members of the 20th Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. The 20th Bundestag was elected in the 26 September 2021 federal election, and was constituted in its first session on 26 October 2021. The 21st Bundestag succeeded the 20th Bundestag on 25 March 2025.

The 20th Bundestag was the largest in history with 733 members, 135 seats larger than its minimum size of 598. Originally, it had 736 and comprised 206 members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), 197 members of the CDU/CSU, 118 members of Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE), 92 members of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), 83 members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and 39 members of The Left (LINKE), as well as one member of the South Schleswig Voters' Association, who sits as a non-attached member.

The Free Democratic Party (German: Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP, German pronunciation: [ɛfdeːˈpeː] ) is a liberal political party in Germany. The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of former liberal political parties in Germany before World War II, namely the German Democratic Party and the German People's Party. For most of the second half of the 20th century, particularly from 1961 to 1982, the FDP held the balance of power in the Bundestag. It has been a junior coalition partner to both the CDU/CSU (1949–1956, 1961–1966, 1982–1998, and 2009–2013) and Social Democratic Party (SPD; 1969–1982 and 2021–2024).

In the 2013 federal election, the FDP failed to win any directly elected seats in the Bundestag and came up short of the 5 percent threshold to qualify for list representation, being left without representation in the Bundestag for the first time in its history. In the 2017 federal election, the FDP regained its representation in the Bundestag, receiving 10.6% of the vote. From the 2021 federal election to the 2024 German government crisis, the FDP was part of governing Scholz cabinet in a "traffic light coalition" with the SPD and the Greens. In the 2025 federal election, the party again failed to win any directly elected seats and came up short of the 5 percent threshold to qualify for list representation, leaving the party with no seats in the Bundestag.

The Scholz cabinet (German: Kabinett Scholz, pronounced [kabiˈnɛt ʃɔlt͡s] ) was the 24th Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 20th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was sworn in on 8 December 2021 following the 2021 federal election and dismissed on 25 March 2025, and acted in a caretaker role until 6 May 2025. It was preceded by the Fourth Merkel cabinet and succeeded by the Merz cabinet. It was led by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the cabinet ultimately composed of Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens.

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) was a member of the cabinet until 7 November 2024 when the three-way coalition collapsed through Scholz's dismissal of FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Scholz announced pursuing a snap election to be held in early 2025. On 16 December 2024, Scholz lost a vote of no confidence. On the same day, he requested the President of Germany to dissolve the Bundestag. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier granted the request and called new elections for 23 February 2025.