Despite substantial gains in recent German regional elections, the Alternative for Germany may struggle to consolidate its federal presence

Following a run of successes in the German regions of Thuringia, Brandenburg and Saxony, Germany’s anti-Eurozone party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) is riding high in the polls. Patricia Hogwood writes, however, that the party may struggle to translate this success into the federal arena. In particular, the key concerns of the AfD party elites – external trade and Eurozone reform – sit awkwardly with the largely domestic concerns of their voting public, which centre on labour market and welfare state reforms and immigration. Unless the AfD can reconcile these interests, the party risks implosion under the twin pressures of warring elite factions and electoral volatility.