How Die Linke Turned the Tide

Version française ci-dessous

Co-chairs Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken on the party’s remarkable comeback

When we announced our candidacy for the chair of Die Linke last summer, the situation seemed hopeless: the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) had split from the party and we were limping into the state elections in eastern Germany. Last Sunday, only six months later, we won just under 8.8 percent in the federal elections. That was no coincidence.

The party congress in Halle already signalled the beginning of a transformation. The mood was great, and a new beginning was on the horizon, albeit still tentative and initially at the local level. With the end of the coalition government and the announcement of snap elections, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an election campaign. We found ourselves in a party that was more united and disciplined than it had been for a long time. “Revolutionary friendliness” spread, paired with a good mood and a lot of energy.

Fortunate circumstances certainly played a role in Die Linke’s comeback, but it was above all the result of a well thought-out strategic process within the party — a process that began long before our time as party chairs, and gave us the ability to respond flexibly to the constantly shifting social situation. We would like to highlight what we believe was decisive in this regard.

In October, we were elected leaders of Die Linke. At the time, our party was polling at just 3 percent. Two-and-a-half weeks later, the traffic light coalition collapsed — and the general election that was supposed to take place in a little under a year’s time was suddenly only four months away.

At first, a turnaround appeared impossible. But while the media were busy pronouncing us dead on arrival, we realized in our talks with local branches throughout Germany that new life had been breathed into our party. At first, hardly anyone believed us when we said that Die Linke was alive. But some crucial adjustments had been made and the foundations for a new beginning had been laid.

The social backdrop to this election campaign naturally played a role: many people, especially young people, were frustrated and resigned after three years of a coalition government. Friedrich Merz’s pact with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) revitalized the movement against the Right — and Die Linke was the only force to stand firm. As a result, we came to represent hope for a solidary alternative for many. However, that was only possible because we as an entire party had done some things right in the previous months.

The Recipe for Revitalization

The recipe for Die Linke’s successful resurgence in recent months can be summarized as follows: As a party, we managed to agree on a common strategic plan and take major steps in party building and organizing work in a short period of time. With a joint project (the pre-election campaign), we, on the one hand, established effective structures to maximize our activity in the few months available. On the other hand, we really got in touch with our (potential) voters. By focusing on very concrete and realistic demands such as the rent cap, the abolition of sales tax on basic foodstuffs, and a wealth tax, we succeeded in rebuilding our profile as a social opposition. Through a communications strategy with clear “us-versus-them” messaging, we foregrounded the things the class has in common and made it clear what we stand for and for whom our politics are as Die Linke. Moreover, we proved that we don’t just talk — we act, with concrete tools such as the exorbitant rent calculator or our heating cost check. And last but not least, for the first time in years, we presented a united front to the public again — and were enjoying ourselves!

Ten Ingredients for Success

The strength of our party is our members. However, our party had shrunk as a result of years of infighting, and many of our local chapters were weakened and in some cases barely active. That’s why, over the last year-and-a-half, the focus has been on recruiting new members and rebuilding the party. The following ten ingredients were important for this undertaking. It was crucial that all of these ingredients were harmonized with each other and, as a whole, created a common, coherent image.

1. Recruiting new activists and strengthening local chapters. After years of faction fights, our structures were thinned out and overloaded. A campaign in autumn 2023 managed to recruit thousands of new members. Many of them reorganized their chapters and became core activists. The decisive factor was that experienced people worked together with new members. This makes us all the more hopeful about the many new comrades who have joined us in recent weeks. In summer and autumn 2024, we toured around 100 chapters across the country, provided comprehensive training in organizing methods, and continued to provide close support. This enabled us to build up a new capacity to act in order to systematically implant left-wing politics on the ground.
2. The largest organizing campaign in the party’s history. Since spring 2024, a debate has been taking place at all levels within the party about our path to the federal election, the so-called “Roadmap25”. The centrepiece was the major door-to-door survey, our “pre-election campaign”. The aim was to knock on 100,000 doors by the end of February and involve the people we care about. The pre-election campaign was based on systematic data analysis, which enabled us to go into the areas where people with little money and non-voters live. These were precisely the people we wanted to reach again. As a party, we derived our election campaign priorities from the conversations, so that every conversation and every contribution from activists was decisive for Die Linke’s new profile. The success of Team Nam Duy also made it clear what potential we can unleash if we tackle doorstep conversations and the development of our neighbourhoods on a large scale. We then expanded this even further in the federal elections and were able to win direct mandates for Die Linke with large-scale organizing campaigns in Lichtenberg, Treptow-Köpenick, Neukölln, Leipzig II and Erfurt-Weimar. Ultimately, we knocked on more than 638,123 doors by election day — Die Linke’s largest organizing campaign to date.
3. Making a difference in concrete terms. A left-wing force is always strong when it makes a difference in people’s lives. We realize that this does not work overnight. Nevertheless, Die Linke was able to fulfil this claim with a number of campaigns, proving in practice what we stand for. Whether the exorbitant rent calculator or our heating cost check: the campaigns had a tangible benefit for people. We were able to reach many with whom we otherwise never would have had a conversation. Die Linke has done more for tenants in three months than the coalition government in three years. We were also able to gain first-hand experience of how this translates into a joint fight for improvements by organizing tenants’ meetings.
4. Prioritize issues. We focused on a few core demands and issues that we constantly emphasized, just as we did when Die Linke was founded. This does not mean that we neglected to take stances on a large number of issues, but by focusing on the rent cap, high prices, and the wealth tax, we succeeded in developing a recognizable profile and once again breaking through the static with our demands. After a short time, people knew what we stood for again.
5. Us down here versus them up there. Die Linke put class conflict at the heart of the campaign and thus made it clear which social conflicts are important to us, who we are fighting for, and who our common adversaries are. Moreover, we demonstrated how we can change society: by joining forces and standing up for our interests together.
6. Speak in a way that is understandable, communicate in such a way that we are heard by many. We realigned Die Linke’s communication by developing a common narrative as well as a direct and mobilizing language and spreading it throughout the party. It is based on the shared values of the people we want to reach. As a result, people started to understand what we stand for as Die Linke again and began to identify with us. No more complicated explanations or preachy messages. From the local chapters to the national level, we used the same narrative, said the same sentences, and communicated in a simple and understandable way.
7. Strong social media work. Our social media work has become more professional at all levels of the party. We have started to communicate in a target group-specific and up-to-date manner. It enabled us to reach younger people in particular much more effectively. That was an important factor behind Die Linke becoming visible again.
8. Moving forward while keeping an open mind. The political situation remains dynamic and confusing. We need to develop goals and a plan and measure ourselves against them. We did this during the election campaign, but without designing everything on the drawing board. We tried things out and continued what worked. As a result, our campaign developed a strong dynamic and we were able to respond to political opportunities successfully.
9. A clear stance. We have shown that we maintain our stance even when everyone else is moving further to the right. This enabled us to become a place of hope for all those who are frightened by the shift to the right and who support a politics of solidarity.
10. New cohesion. For the first time in years, we as a party once again appeared as a team. For a long time, it wasn’t easy to be on the Left. Not everything is strategy — without the right atmosphere, everything is nothing. We know that we are still fighting for important issues in our party — drilling down to the nitty-gritty, with all our strength and all our heart. But a new culture of togetherness emerged in recent months. Frustration and disputes were replaced by team spirit, enjoying political work, and joint organization. We all felt the power that this unleashes over the last few weeks. May the principle of revolutionary friendliness continue to be our guiding principle.

Continuing on Our Chosen Path

Of course, the party still needs a lot of work. Of course, we also made mistakes, and of course, there are major tasks ahead of us. But we as a party have achieved a great deal in recent months — and we are incredibly proud of that. We are proud of the steps we have taken together and of every single comrade — and those who could become comrades — who contributed. This is just the beginning.

Die Linke did not enter the federal election simply to achieve a good result — we want to change this society. Many people have placed their hopes in us again in recent weeks and given Die Linke a second chance. We are determined not to disappoint them. This means continuing on the path we have taken, rebuilding Die Linke and turning it into a force that can change things for the better. We see this as our mission, and it’s one we wouldn’t trade for anything.

Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken have served as co-chairs of Die Linke since October 2024 and were both elected to parliament in the 2025 federal election.

Translated by Loren Balhorn.

First published on rosalux.de: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/53139

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