September 7, 2026 • 5 mins
Germany's AfD has come out on top in this weekend's state elections, with the party winning 43.8 percent of the vote.
This is the first time a far-right party has won control of a state since World War II.
UK correspondent Gavin Grey says these are only preliminary results, but this result is sending 'alarm bells' among the nation amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gavin Gray, UK Correspondents with us now. Hi, Gavin.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hi there, Heather.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
What do you make of the AFD in Germany getting
this poll result?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, this is a big, big moment in German electoral history.
The far-right party Alternative for Deutschland, or AFD, has now
been declared as a decisive victory in Germany's eastern state
of Saxony-Anhalt. And not just was it a victory, it
was a big victory. They've secured 43.8% of the vote.
(00:29):
The conservative CDU, one of the big parties normally, just
at 17%. So less than half that vote. These are
interim results. We don't know them yet. Saxony-Anhalt's a small population,
just 2.1 million. But the AFD is very, very popular there.
And it looks like they are probably going to get
(00:51):
39 seats of the 83-seat parliament. So that is slightly
short of the 42 required for an out-marked majority. But
these are preliminary results. But it sends a huge alarm
bell around Germany now to say, look, the Alternative for Deutschland,
which is pro-Russian, what would that mean for Ukraine, is
looking to try and minimize references to Hitler in history
(01:14):
books and teaching and so forth. and is very anti-migration.
So all of those things are going to come into
play now, and we're going to see how these negotiations
get on to form some kind of a working majority. Now,
the leaders of AFD say we're not going to just
form some kind of a coalition for the sake of it.
If necessary, we'll call another election in order to try
(01:36):
and get an outright majority, but the mechanism of that
is far from clear. Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
These anti-migrant protests that are happening, is someone organizing them Yes.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
And very well organized, actually. It's a guy called Danny
Tomo or Daniel Thomas is his full name. He is
an associate with the better known far right activist Tommy Robinson.
He was live streaming the latest incidents. So last night,
our time, hundreds of protesters gathered in Portsmouth, Portsmouth, right
down pretty much in the middle of the south coast
of England. And they were there because a boat carrying
(02:11):
around 140 migrants in a single dinghy were rescued in
the English Channel and brought ashore there. Now, this is extraordinary.
I think it's the first time that one of these
migrant dinghies has ever actually come ashore in Hampshire. Mostly
they're down to the extreme southeast coast, and the fear
is now this will open up a new route in.
But what the protesters doing were all in black. It
(02:34):
seemed almost entirely men wearing face coverings and balaclavas. We're
trying to prevent the coaches that had been pulled up
by the British government. We're trying to prevent those coaches
from leaving the city area and going to an immigration
processing center. And they didn't succeed. There was a dispersal
order that was limited and out of pushing and toing
(02:58):
and throwing with the police, but pretty limited. And they're
pledging to carry on more, saying we must stop the boats.
But this is the second incident in just two days.
The first was down at Dover, down at the very
busy ferry port.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
OK, so they want to stop the boats, but the
boats arriving, I mean, the problem isn't at your border,
is it? It's at the French border. So what are
they hoping to achieve?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I think they're hoping to pressure the government into the
whole immigration thing becoming unworkable and so unpopular that in
the end they hope to get the government to be
more serious about stopping it at source. In other words,
in the EU.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
OK, I see what you're saying. All right. Now, how
do you go about petitioning the king? What's the process?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Very complicated. This from the Jamaican government, which is meeting
today the king and are going to present to King
Charles a petition over slavery reparations. So the petition asks
for three questions. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
the country's highest court, is going to be asked over
the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica. And
(04:04):
the three questions are whether the enslavement of Africans in
Jamaica was legal under British law, whether it broke international law,
and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress. Well,
back in 2015, the then Prime Minister David Cameron ruled
out making reparations, saying it was a very sorry saga,
but it had all been sort of done and dealt with,
because when it was abolished in 1833 across most of
(04:25):
the British Empire, the British government paid then 45 million
New Zealand dollars to slave owners in compensation. But that,
of course, was to the slave owners and not to
the slaves. Incidentally, the loans taken out in 1833 were
only paid off a decade ago. Now, of course, the
Jamaicans appear to be coming back and wanting money for
(04:46):
those reparations. I think the government is saying, we'll listen
to you. We need to work together to improve both countries, etc.
But I don't see any money forthcoming because, of course,
if they start with one country, there will be an
awful lot more coming down the road.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, too right. Gavin, thank you very much. As always,
good to talk to you. Gavin Gray, UK correspondent.
Gavin Gray, UK Correspondents with us now. Hi, Gavin.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hi there, Heather.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
What do you make of the AFD in Germany getting
this poll result?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, this is a big, big moment in German electoral history.
The far-right party Alternative for Deutschland, or AFD, has now
been declared as a decisive victory in Germany's eastern state
of Saxony-Anhalt. And not just was it a victory, it
was a big victory. They've secured 43.8% of the vote.
(00:29):
The conservative CDU, one of the big parties normally, just
at 17%. So less than half that vote. These are
interim results. We don't know them yet. Saxony-Anhalt's a small population,
just 2.1 million. But the AFD is very, very popular there.
And it looks like they are probably going to get
(00:51):
39 seats of the 83-seat parliament. So that is slightly
short of the 42 required for an out-marked majority. But
these are preliminary results. But it sends a huge alarm
bell around Germany now to say, look, the Alternative for Deutschland,
which is pro-Russian, what would that mean for Ukraine, is
looking to try and minimize references to Hitler in history
(01:14):
books and teaching and so forth. and is very anti-migration.
So all of those things are going to come into
play now, and we're going to see how these negotiations
get on to form some kind of a working majority. Now,
the leaders of AFD say we're not going to just
form some kind of a coalition for the sake of it.
If necessary, we'll call another election in order to try
(01:36):
and get an outright majority, but the mechanism of that
is far from clear. Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
These anti-migrant protests that are happening, is someone organizing them Yes.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
And very well organized, actually. It's a guy called Danny
Tomo or Daniel Thomas is his full name. He is
an associate with the better known far right activist Tommy Robinson.
He was live streaming the latest incidents. So last night,
our time, hundreds of protesters gathered in Portsmouth, Portsmouth, right
down pretty much in the middle of the south coast
of England. And they were there because a boat carrying
(02:11):
around 140 migrants in a single dinghy were rescued in
the English Channel and brought ashore there. Now, this is extraordinary.
I think it's the first time that one of these
migrant dinghies has ever actually come ashore in Hampshire. Mostly
they're down to the extreme southeast coast, and the fear
is now this will open up a new route in.
But what the protesters doing were all in black. It
(02:34):
seemed almost entirely men wearing face coverings and balaclavas. We're
trying to prevent the coaches that had been pulled up
by the British government. We're trying to prevent those coaches
from leaving the city area and going to an immigration
processing center. And they didn't succeed. There was a dispersal
order that was limited and out of pushing and toing
(02:58):
and throwing with the police, but pretty limited. And they're
pledging to carry on more, saying we must stop the boats.
But this is the second incident in just two days.
The first was down at Dover, down at the very
busy ferry port.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
OK, so they want to stop the boats, but the
boats arriving, I mean, the problem isn't at your border,
is it? It's at the French border. So what are
they hoping to achieve?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I think they're hoping to pressure the government into the
whole immigration thing becoming unworkable and so unpopular that in
the end they hope to get the government to be
more serious about stopping it at source. In other words,
in the EU.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
OK, I see what you're saying. All right. Now, how
do you go about petitioning the king? What's the process?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Very complicated. This from the Jamaican government, which is meeting
today the king and are going to present to King
Charles a petition over slavery reparations. So the petition asks
for three questions. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
the country's highest court, is going to be asked over
the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica. And
(04:04):
the three questions are whether the enslavement of Africans in
Jamaica was legal under British law, whether it broke international law,
and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress. Well,
back in 2015, the then Prime Minister David Cameron ruled
out making reparations, saying it was a very sorry saga,
but it had all been sort of done and dealt with,
because when it was abolished in 1833 across most of
(04:25):
the British Empire, the British government paid then 45 million
New Zealand dollars to slave owners in compensation. But that,
of course, was to the slave owners and not to
the slaves. Incidentally, the loans taken out in 1833 were
only paid off a decade ago. Now, of course, the
Jamaicans appear to be coming back and wanting money for
(04:46):
those reparations. I think the government is saying, we'll listen
to you. We need to work together to improve both countries, etc.
But I don't see any money forthcoming because, of course,
if they start with one country, there will be an
awful lot more coming down the road.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, too right. Gavin, thank you very much. As always,
good to talk to you. Gavin Gray, UK correspondent.
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