BERLIN — Elif Eralp has emerged as the central figure in Berlin politics after the Left party won the city-state election with about 25.3% of the vote.
The result placed the party ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats and gave Eralp a claim to lead the next government. It did not automatically make her mayor. Berlin’s legislature must produce a governing majority, likely through negotiations involving the Social Democrats and Greens.
Eralp, a lawyer of Turkish heritage, campaigned on the cost of housing and a proposal to bring roughly 220,000 apartments owned by large landlords into public control. Berlin voters backed a 2021 referendum calling for socialisation of major housing portfolios, but implementation has stalled amid disputes over constitutionality, compensation and cost.
Reuters estimated that compensation could require around €20 billion. Eralp argues that public ownership would give the city greater control over rents and housing security. Opponents warn of debt, litigation and reduced private investment. Both claims need testing against a detailed financing plan rather than campaign shorthand.
Her rise has representational weight in a city shaped by migration but still unequal in access to political power. If elected mayor, she would become one of the most prominent German leaders of Turkish origin. Representation, however, will be judged by governing choices: who receives affordable housing, whether public services work across districts and how police and administrative systems treat minorities.
The coalition arithmetic creates immediate limits. Partners may support stronger tenant protections without accepting large-scale expropriation. They may also demand changes on transport, climate or budgeting. Compromise is inherent in parliamentary government, but voters deserve to know which promises are being changed and why.
Berlin’s election also carries a national message. A left party that has struggled elsewhere gained ground by making an expensive daily problem—rent—the organising issue. That success will be difficult to repeat if the party cannot move from protest to administration.
Eralp’s leadership now begins in the less theatrical space after victory: drafting agreements, publishing costs and maintaining a coalition capable of passing budgets. The election made her a symbol of political change. The next months will show whether she can turn that symbol into a functioning government.
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