German Chancellor Olaf Scholz walks along the aisle during a session of Germany's lower house of parliament, as the Bundestag is set to vote on several proposals introducing or blocking a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the general population, in Berlin, Germany, April 7, 2022. Photo: thepaper.cn

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) suffered a crushing defeat in a key German regional election on Sunday, exit polls showed, in a damning verdict on his perceived weak response to the Ukraine crisis.

The likely loss for the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia would be a big blow for Scholz, who has held the reins of Europe's biggest economy for less than six months.

Preliminary results from the vote in Germany's most populous state showed the SPD on around 28 percent, with the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) far out in front on around 35 percent.

The result would be the SPD's worst ever showing in the state, a prosperous industrial hub that is home to some 13 million eligible voters and around a quarter of the population.

North Rhine-Westphalia, which houses major cities Cologne, Bonn, Duesseldorf, Essen and Dortmund, was an SPD stronghold during the 1980s and 1990s but had been ruled by the CDU since its last election in 2017. Back then, the CDU under Armin Laschet triumphed with around 33 percent of the vote, while the SPD finished on 31.2 percent. 

Laschet went on to replace Angela Merkel as the leader of the CDU before losing to Scholz in the race to become chancellor in 2021.

The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia is now led by moderate Hendrik Wuest, 46.

Scholz had played a prominent role in the election campaign but his involvement appears to have done nothing to help SPD candidate Thomas Kutschaty, 53.

AFP