This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7211589.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
German elections blow for Merkel Election blow for German premier
(about 4 hours later)
A close ally of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered a dramatic electoral setback in the key state of Hesse's regional elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party has suffered a dramatic electoral setback in the key state of Hesse's regional election.
Initial results show the state's incumbent governor, Roland Koch, has lost his absolute majority. Governor Roland Koch, who made immigrant crime an election issue, lost his absolute majority in Hesse's parliament, early results show.
According to exit polls, support for Mr Koch's conservative CDU party has plummeted to 36.5%. While the CDU might still form a coalition, its vote share was barely above that of the social democrat SPD.
Initial results suggest Andrea Ypsilanti, the Social Democrat (SPD) candidate, won 37%. But the CDU did retain power in another state, Lower Saxony, as expected.
Defeat in Hesse for Chancellor Merkel's conservative party would be a political earthquake, as these regional elections are being seen as a big test for the chancellor ahead of next year's federal election. After taking 48.8% of the vote and an overall majority of seats in 2003, Mr Koch's party won 36.8% on Sunday to the SPD's 36.7% (29.1% in 2003).
Controversial campaign In Lower Saxony, the CDU also saw its vote share fall but it still won about 42.5% to the SPD's 30.3%, preliminary results show.
Running for his third term in office, Mr Koch provoked a storm of protest by focusing on youth crime and calling for tough penalties against young offenders with immigrant backgrounds. The elections in two of Germany's most important states are being seen as a dry run for the federal election next year, the BBC's Tristana Moore reports.
In the end, the highly controversial and divisive campaign backfired as many voters turned their backs on the conservatives. The CDU and SPD, traditional political foes, have ruled Germany in an uneasy Grand Coalition since 2005.
Ms Ypsilanti has won a following by focusing on education and wagesMeanwhile, Ms Ypsilanti, the daughter of a trade union official, won over voters by talking about local issues like education and a minimum wage. Boost for SPD
With votes still being counted, it is not yet clear which of the main parties will take power, as their preferred coalition partners are also running neck-and-neck. Mr Koch had fought an aggressive and divisive campaign, calling for tough new laws against immigrant young offenders.
But for the Social Democrats, victory in Hesse would provide an important confidence boost. Roland Koch has been seen as a future CDU leader
Once trailing in the polls, the SPD would feel emboldened at a national level. Although critics were quick to point out that his campaign was xenophobic, Chancellor Merkel gave her full backing to Mr Koch, known as the "Crown Prince" among conservatives.
In Lower Saxony, which also voted on Sunday, there was a more predictable outcome: the incumbent conservative governor, Christian Wulff, who ran a moderate campaign, was re-elected. But it is now clear that many voters felt uncomfortable with the CDU's hardline rhetoric and they delivered a severe blow to Chancellor Merkel's party, our correspondent says.
The SPD's Hesse leader, Andrea Ypsilanti, had appealed to left-wing voters during her campaign with calls for a national minimum wage and better schools.
The balance of power in Hesse now lies with the smaller parties, the Greens, the liberal FDP and the Left Party and it is still not clear who will be able to form a coalition government.
For the SPD, the result in Hesse is a welcome boost to the party, our correspondent notes.
Once trailing in the polls, it will now feel emboldened at a national level.
But Sunday's results are also likely to lead to more in-fighting in the Grand Coalition, as the main parties sharpen their ideological differences.