[philippK]

This is pretty important for the pirate party. Nordrhrein Westphalen is not only the largest state by population. It is also very important politically and economically. The pirates entering the state parliament at 8% will greatly solidify their political base. This will give them a much needed boost when gearing up for the general election in 2013.

Also Angela Merkel's CDU suffered a crushing defeat at only 26%, despite her "heir apparent" Norbert Röttgen running in the state. The state will now be governed by a leftwing coalition of SPD and greens. In all, this is a good day for the national opposition in germany. Germany is shifting to the left, along with the rest of europe.

[leod]

Saying that the modern SPD is leftwing is like saying that the Democrats in the USA are leftwing.

[philippK]

Arguably. While it is true that the SPD has departed from its roots as a socialist working class party they can still be considered "leftwing". I don't want to go into too much detail here but Hannelore Kraft has run on a pretty leftwing platform of social policy (offering free childcare, as but one example).

When compared to american politics... pretty much every german party except maybe the FDP can be considered "leftwing" or even "socialist".

[quink]

> Saying that the modern SPD is leftwing

In the NRW elections, between the Linke (which are a lot more popular in the eastern part of Germany), the Pirates and the Greens there's 21.6% that's arguably further left than the SPD which, given that and the fact that it's got about 39% of the vote here, might well be considered centre-left these days when looking at the relative spectrum.