Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters in the form of a
registered association (eV). In most cases, Free Voters campaign only at the
local-government level, standing for
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
s and for
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
alties. Free Voters tend to achieve their most successful electoral results in rural areas of southern Germany, appealing most to conservative voters who prefer local decisions to party politics. Free Voter groups are active in all
German states.
Unlike in the other German states, the
Free Voters of Bavaria
The Free Voters of Bavaria (German: ''Freie Wähler Bayern'') is a conservative political party in Bavaria. It has served as part of the governing coalition there since the 2018 state election under the leading Christian Social Union. The term ...
have also contested state elections since 1998. In the
Bavaria state election of 2008 FW obtained 10.2% of the vote and gained their first 20 seats in the
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
. FW may have been helped by the presence in its list of
Gabriele Pauli
Gabriele Pauli (born 26 June 1957) is a German politician, formerly with the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party. She was the District Administrator for the rural district of Fürth from 1990 to 2008.
Career
In 2006 and 2007, Pa ...
, a former member of the
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German language, German: , CSU) is a Christian democracy, Christian-democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. Having a regionalis ...
. Others suggested that the cause and effect might be the other way about. In the
state election of 2013 FW repeated its success, gaining 19 seats. Then, in the
2018 ''Landtag'' elections, the Free Voters won a record 27 seats. In the
2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election, the FW entered the ''Landtag'' there for the first time, amassing 5.4% of the vote and six seats.
Ideology and politics
The Free Voters support
devolving more power to the local level. The party is in opposition to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's financial policy.
Ideologically, on the left–right spectrum, it has been described by some sources as between the
Free Democratic Party and the
Party of Bible-abiding Christians
The Party of Bible-abiding Christians (german: Partei Bibeltreuer Christen, PBC) was a conservative evangelical minor right-wing political party in Germany. It was founded in 1989 during a convent of the Federation of Pentecostal Churches to serve ...
,
[ and by others as between the Christian Social Union and the ]Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
. Europe Elects
Europe Elects is a poll aggregator that collects and publishes election-related data such as opinion polls in European countries.
Genesis and history
Europe Elects was founded in 2014 as a Twitter account. The project quickly rose to promin ...
described it as centrist.
European representation
In the 2014 European parliament elections in Germany, the Free Voters list received 1.46% of the national vote and returned a single MEP, Ulrike Müller, who sits with the ALDE Group. The federal Free Voters association joined the European Democratic Party
The European Democratic Party (EDP) ( French: Parti Démocrate Européen; PDE) also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. François Bayrou is the President of the party.
All ...
in October 2015.
In June 2017 Arne Gericke
Arne Gericke (born 19 November 1964 in Hamburg) is a German politician who was formerly a Member of the European Parliament. Elected for the Family Party of Germany in the 2014 election, he left in 2017 to join the Free Voters. After 15 months w ...
, who sits with European Parliament's European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
group and was elected in 2014 on the Family Party of Germany
The Family Party of Germany (german: Familienpartei Deutschlands) is a minor conservative political party in Germany. It has elected members to several local councils in the state of Saarland. In the 2005 federal elections, the Family Party rece ...
list, joined the federal association. He left it 15 months afterward for Alliance C – Christians for Germany
Alliance C – Christians for Germany (german: Bündnis C – Christen für Deutschland) is a political party in Germany.
History
At the founding party conference in Fulda in March 2015, the Party for Labour, Environment and Family (AUF) and Par ...
.
Currently, in the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
the Free Voters sit in the Renew Europe group with two MEPs.
In the European Committee of the Regions
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...
the Free Voters sit in the Renew Europe CoR group with one alternate member for the 2020–2025 mandate.
Federal elections results
State Parliaments (Länder)
The Free Voters does not contest state elections in Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
due to the close cooperation with the BVB/Free Voters, who only compete in the state elections in Brandenburg.
References
External links
Official website of the Bavarian FW
{{Authority control
Political organisations based in Germany
Parties represented in the European Parliament
Centrist parties in Germany
Liberal conservative parties in Germany
European Democratic Party
Political terminology in Germany