New Voters, New Goals? What Die Linke Wants to Achieve for Young People

While the conservative CDU/CSU alliance emerged as the strongest force overall in the 2025 federal election, the picture looks quite different among young voters. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, the Left Party became the strongest party with 25 percent of the vote—followed by the AfD with 21 percent and the CDU/CSU with 13 percent. The success is particularly striking among first-time voters: 27 percent voted for the Left Party. With topics such as effectively combating child poverty, promoting equal opportunities in the education system, increasing youth participation in political decision-making, as well as lowering living costs and rents, and providing accessible and affordable public transport, the party was able to convince many young people.

The question now is: how can this success—especially among young people—be sustained in the long term? And how can the Left succeed in advancing its political goals from the opposition?

We are very pleased to welcome Ines Schwerdtner, Chair of the Left Party, to the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, to discuss this topic.

Together with you and Ines Schwerdtner, we would like to discuss the following and other questions: Which political issues are particularly relevant to young voters? What specific goals is the Left Party pursuing for the concerns of young people—in areas such as education, climate, work, and social justice? How does the Left intend to advocate for these goals politically from an opposition role and push for their implementation? Which political goals will be at the center of the Left’s agenda in the upcoming legislative period? How can the Left effectively represent its issues in the Bundestag and beyond?

We look forward to your participation and kindly ask you to register by May 26, 2025, either online or via email.