Elif Eralp’s historic Berlin election win puts the daughter of Turkish refugees within reach of becoming the German capital’s next governing mayor.
Born into a Turkish family that fled the 1980 military coup, Elif Eralp is now within reach of governing Berlin after leading the left-wing Die Linke party to a historic election victory in the German capital.
The 45-year-old lawyer emerged as one of the biggest winners of Sunday’s Berlin state election, with Die Linke finishing first and putting her in contention to become the city’s next governing mayor.
Eralp has presented herself as a politician from a migrant background who puts housing, social justice and combating racism at the heart of local politics.
She has also spoken out against Germany’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, saying that “Germany must end its repression of those who stand in solidarity with Palestine and hold the Israeli government accountable”.
Eralp’s parents were socialists and trade unionists who were forced to leave Turkey after the 1980 coup for fear of persecution.
Her mother was pregnant with her when the family arrived in Germany, where Eralp was born in Munich in 1981. The family later moved to Dortmund and then Hamburg, where she grew up and studied law. She is married and has two children.
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Early political activism
Eralp became politically active at an early age. As a child, she founded an environmental club before becoming involved in the anti-nuclear movement in Hamburg and Gorleben.
After studying law, she moved to Berlin in 2010 and worked as a legal adviser to Die Linke’s federal parliamentary group alongside her trade union activities.
She officially joined the party in 2017 after years of working within its parliamentary groups.
She has linked her decision to join to the need for a political force that would offer an alternative to liberal economic policies and confront the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In 2018, she joined Die Linke’s Berlin leadership and entered the state parliament in 2021. She later became deputy parliamentary group leader and has served as a deputy party leader in Berlin since last year.
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Housing fuels Eralp’s political rise
Eralp has built much of her political profile around Berlin’s housing crisis, advocating rent controls, more public housing and bringing some properties owned by major housing companies into public ownership.
She has also called for curbs on the influence of major property companies and stronger protections against tenants being forced out by rising rents, advocating for Berlin to become a “city of solidarity”.
Her focus on housing has allowed her to campaign heavily on everyday concerns such as rents, living costs and public services.
She has reportedly drawn inspiration from progressive US politician Zohran Mamdani in New York, particularly his focus on affordability as an issue capable of mobilising voters.
Elif Eralp’s path to governing Berlin
Eralp’s rise was far from assured at the start of the campaign, but she put the housing crisis, cost of living, social justice and confronting the far right at the centre of her message.
Sunday’s result transformed her political standing.
Die Linke won 25.7% of the vote, the party’s best result in Berlin since reunification, and more than double its 12.2% share in 2023.
Meanwhile, the governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) lost its majority.
Eralp has said she wants to negotiate with the Greens and SPD over forming a new state government.
But finishing first does not automatically make her governing mayor. Taking the post will depend on coalition negotiations and whether the parties can agree on a governing programme.
Housing is likely to be among the most difficult issues in those talks, given Eralp’s support for bringing major housing companies into public ownership and implementing the result of Berlin’s 2021 housing referendum.
Any new government will also face significant financial constraints, potentially putting ambitious campaign promises up against competing spending priorities.
Die Linke’s positions on Israel and Gaza could prove another point of contention as Eralp attempts to move the party from opposition into government in one of Europe’s most diverse capitals.
Her rise is therefore no longer simply the story of the daughter of Turkish refugees who reached parliament. It now raises the question of whether she can turn a campaign built around housing, social justice and combating racism into a governing programme while navigating the demands of potential coalition partners.
