Mr Höcke’s influence over the AfD is now at its peak.
The AfD was once a moderate Eurosceptic group dubbed the “professors’ party” because of the number of university lecturers in its ranks, but it has been radicalised; exploiting fears over Covid regulations, the war in Ukraine and immigration.
The Wing, Mr Höcke’s pro-Russian faction, became dominant in the party’s stronghold of eastern Germany around 2020, forcing out Jörg Meuthen, then party leader, who branded Mr Höcke a “danger to democracy”. The Wing has since been formally disbanded after being branded extremist, but there are suspicions the network continues to operate.
In 2022, Der Spiegel called him “the real boss” of the AfD after he embarrassed party leaders by sponsoring a resolution to dissolve the EU.
While hard-Right leaders such as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni or France’s Marine Le Pen have moderated their image in the pursuit of power, the AfD has followed Mr Höcke’s lead and become more extreme.
Even before Sunday’s triumph, Mr Höcke was already dragging Germany to the Right by putting Olaf Scholz’s warring Left-leaning coalition government under pressure.
‘Forced multiculturalisation’
The election was held days after a terrorist attack in the western Germany city of Solingen that left three dead and eight injured. The suspect is a Syrian refugee.
Shortly after the attack, Mr Höcke posted a video on social media with the caption “Free yourself, finally end the wrong path of forced multiculturalisation!”, and later he added the hashtag “Höcke or Solingen”.
Before Sunday’s vote, Mr Scholz announced a crackdown on illegal immigration but it did not prevent humiliation at the polls for his SPD and its coalition partners.
Mr Scholz’s SPD has already promised more deportations, while there are talks of cuts to aid to Ukraine a year before federal elections in September 2025.
Mr Höcke’s chances of forming a state government are remote, because the other parties have formed a cordon sanitaire against the far-Right.
After his victory, he demanded an end to the “stupid firewall excuses”. But he will have to settle for his prize being a swing to the Right in German policies rather than power in Thuringia.