Parties – Hanover – parties: Different picture in membership development – politics
Hanover (dpa / lni) – The membership development of the parties in Lower Saxony shows a different picture. The larger parties, CDU and SPD, lost members in total last year, while smaller parties recorded a significant plus, according to a survey by the German Press Agency.
At the end of last year, the state SPD said it had around 51,900 members, around 750 fewer than at the end of 2020. Almost 1000 members died in 2021 and around 2000 left – these are average values, according to the party. In 2021, around 2,200 people joined the Lower Saxony SPD – twice as many as a year earlier. The successful Bundestag election campaign meant that after years the SPD was once again conveying a positive image and, above all, young people would like to get involved.
The loss of members is less at the CDU. At the end of 2020 there were 55,548 members – at the end of November last year, 274 fewer.
The FDP recorded around 1700 more members over the past year and thus has around 7600 supporters. Experience has shown that there is always a lot of movement in party membership in election years, the party said. The Bundestag election therefore represents a special choice of direction.
The Greens had around 3,200 new members from the beginning of January to mid-November 2021. If the withdrawals and results are deducted, this is an increase of almost 2500 supporters.
The Left has also increased its number of members over the course of the year – from 3,140 to around 3,350. For several years now, there has been a clear trend towards young people joining the group. In addition, the party counted more entries after the federal election, in which the left stayed below the five percent hurdle, but was still able to move into parliament because of direct mandates. The AfD initially did not answer a request.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 220112-99-676574 / 2