Hendrik Wüst: AfD voters are not just the bad thing - a politician under pressure!

Hendrik Wüst: AfD voters are not just the bad thing - a politician under pressure!

In a lively discussion during the talk show “3nach9”, Hendrik Wüst, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, spoke about exciting experiences from his political career and the current developments after the local elections. The 50-year-old, who was happy about the CDU's significant victory in the elections, not only talked about interesting encounters with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, but also about the challenges facing his party and the political landscape.

Wüst, who had a preference for the SPD in his younger years, soon founded a local branch of the Junge Union and ultimately found his political home in the CDU. This decision may have paid off for him, because with 33.3 percent of the vote, the CDU remained the strongest force in North Rhine-Westphalia in this year's local elections. However, the party's success did not come without challenges. While the SPD only achieved 22.1 percent and the AfD delivered a strong result with 14.5 percent, Wüst is concerned about the rise of right-wing populist forces that are gaining influence in cities like Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen.

The worries about the AfD

“The AfD voters are not all bad people,” said Wüst, who sees dialogue with citizens as crucial to understanding the voters’ frustration. Despite the success of the AfD, he emphasizes that the party lost votes in North Rhine-Westphalia, while it gained votes in the federal government. This shows a gradual decline of the popular parties, as the political scientist Stefan Marschall from the University of Düsseldorf has observed. In previous elections, the CDU and SPD together were able to achieve 75 percent of the vote, but now it is only 55 percent.

“We have to take action to offer solutions and win back voters,” emphasizes Wüst, who sees the need to aggressively address issues such as migration, poverty and social systems. Something must be done so that the social problems in the affected cities do not continue to cause a feeling of disappointment and migration to the AfD.

Looking into the future

The 2025 local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia also brought with them an increase in voter participation, a sign of a vibrant local democracy. While many voters are looking for a way out of the political dilemma, it turns out that the majority voted for democratic parties that are not monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. We can look forward to the upcoming runoff elections, which will take place on September 28th, especially about the pairings such as the Greens against the SPD in Cologne or the SPD against the AfD in Duisburg.

Overall, Wüst is optimistic that the CDU can consolidate its position in the federal government, while Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn sees the result as a tailwind for the black-red coalition. But the opposition parties, such as the SPD and the Greens, also reflect on their results and strategic approaches. A strong focus on local issues will be crucial in order to bind voters to the parties in the long term and to reshape the political situation in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The SPD, which lost votes in this election, now has to stop the downward trend, while AfD federal chairman Tino Chrupalla describes the three-fold increase in votes as a great success. The path to the political future will therefore be paved with challenges.

The political developments in North Rhine-Westphalia and the dialogue about the challenges show that it is time to listen to voters and actively work on solutions. The coming weeks and months will show whether the parties can make good use of these opportunities.