Elif Eralp, the leading candidate of the party "The Left" (Die Linke), became a central figure in German politics after election day on September 20, 2026. After leading his party to a stunning triumph with 25.7% of the vote in the Berlin local parliament elections, the 45-year-old lawyer is on the verge of becoming the first far-left governing mayor of the German capital since the country's reunification.
From a family of refugees to the heights of power
Born in 1981 in Munich, Eralp's personal story is deeply connected to migration. Her parents were trade union activists in Turkey who fled to Germany in September 1980 to escape repression after the military coup in our southern neighbor. She herself grew up in Dortmund and Hamburg, openly stating that her background is the main driver in her fight against inequality and racism.
Professional human rights activist and rapid political rise
Elif Eralp is graduated in law from the University of Hamburg, specializing in immigration and asylum law. Before entering politics, she gained significant professional experience:
- She worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Berlin.
- She was part of the team of the German Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
- She entered the Berlin parliament in 2021, and in 2024 she was already deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the “Left“.
Campaign on the American model and radical causes
The German media often compare her campaign to that of progressive young politicians in the United States. She relied on a large-scale "door-to-door" strategy, with her activists distributing materials to 11 different languages in neighborhoods with a large migrant population.
The main promise with which Eralp won the hearts of Berliners is the radical fight against “property racketeering“. It calls for a strict rent cap in the capital and the expropriation of housing owned by large corporate landlords to keep the city affordable.
Elif Eralp is married and has two children. Immediately after the results were announced, she told her supporters: “Love and justice have won“. She is expected to begin negotiations for a left-wing progressive coalition in Berlin in the coming days with the Greens and the Social Democrats.
Sources: Tagesschau, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk, n-tv, El País