2029 Brandenburg state election

Last updated
2029 Brandenburg state election
Flag of Brandenburg.svg
  2024
2029

All 88 seats of the Landtag of Brandenburg
45 seats needed for a majority
 
Party SPD AfD
Last election32 seats, 30.9%30 seats, 29.2%

 
Party BSW CDU
Last election14 seats, 13.5%12 seats, 12.1%

Incumbent Government

Fourth Woidke cabinet
SPD



The next election to the state parliament Landtag of Brandenburg is scheduled for 2029.

Contents

Background

Dietmar Woidke was elected as Minister-President for a fourth consecutive time on December 11, 2024. At formation, his coalition was composed of his own party and BSW (a red-purple coalition), which together had a narrow majority of two seats. [1] [2]

Red-purple coalition dissolution

The shaky coalition entered a crisis on 11 November 2025, when BSW MdLs Jouleen Gruhn (its Landtag vice-president), Melanie Matzes, André von Ossowski, and Reinhard Simon left the BSW in protest of most of their bloc voting against the government on amendments to the State Treaty on Media, which regulates the country's public broadcasters. They remained as part of its parliamentary group and continued supporting the government. Matzies and Simon subsequently returned to the party. [3] [4]

BSW leader and deputy Minister-President Robert Crumbach voted for the proposed amendments, which passed with votes from the CDU. He then announced his intent to leave the party on 5 January 2026, calling the BSW unfit for the responsibility of governing. He requested to join the SPD parliamentary group, but stopped short of rejoining the party as a member. The BSW repeatedly rejected the SPD's demand for a public pledge of loyalty to the coalition agreement. The party additionally called for Crumbach's dismissal as finance minister and resignation from the Landtag. [4] [5]

On 6 January 2026, Minister-President Woidke announced in a press conference he was ending the coalition with BSW and seeking negotiations with the CDU, who expressed willingness to cooperate. On the same day, Crumbach and Gruhn were accepted into the SPD parliamentary group as independents – which would give the proposed coalition the same two-seat majority – while von Ossowski left the BSW parliamentary group to sit as an independent. [6] The two remaining BSW ministers – health minister Britta Müller and infrastructure minister Detlef Tabber – remained in office and also left the party on 8 January. [7]

Woidke and SPD general secretary Kurt Fischer ruled out the prospect of new elections. [6] The AfD tabled a motion to dissolve the Landtag in a special session on 9 January, which requires a two-thirds majority of 59 votes in order to pass; it received only 36 votes, with the AfD bloc and six BSW MdLs voting in favor. An effort to remove Gruhn as vice-president of the Landtag was also voted down. After the session, Matzes and Simon jointly released a statement that they were once again leaving the BSW to sit as independents. [8]

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Party polling

Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size
SPD AfD BSW CDU Grüne Linke BVB/FW FDP OthersLead
INSA 9–14 Jan20261,00025348135879
Infratest dimap 3–8 Dec20251,184223571459813
INSA 9–15 Sep20251,00024349134922310
Infratest dimap 19–23 Jun20251,18523329145989
2025 federal election 23 Feb202514.832.510.718.16.610.73.43.214.4
INSA 20–27 Jan20251,00025291317352264
Infratest dimap 4–7 Dec20241,183283012155462
2024 state election 22 Sep202430.929.213.512.14.13.02.60.84.11.7

See also

Notes

    References

    1. "Brandenburg: Dietmar Woidke im zweiten Wahlgang zum Brandenburger Ministerpräsidenten gewählt". tagesschau.de (in German). 11 December 2024.
    2. "Brandenburg: Woidke zum Ministerpräsidenten gewählt". ZDFheute (in German). 11 December 2024.
    3. "Vier Brandenburger BSW-Abgeordnete aus der Partei ausgetreten". rbb24.de (in German). 11 November 2025.
    4. 1 2 "Brandenburger Finanzminister Crumbach verkündet Austritt aus BSW". rbb24.de (in German). 1 May 2026.
    5. "BSW-Fraktion schlägt Forderung nach Treuebekenntnis zur Koalition aus". rbb24.de (in German). 3 January 2026.
    6. 1 2 "Brandenburger SPD beendet Koalition mit BSW - Minister sollen im Amt bleiben". rbb24.de (in German). 6 January 2026.
    7. "BSW könnte gemeinsam mit AfD für Neuwahlen stimmen". rbb24.de (in German). 8 January 2026.
    8. "Landtag lehnt Antrag auf Auflösung ab - BSW-Abgeordnete stimmen mit AfD". rbb24.de (in German). 9 January 2026.