Auf wiedersehen Angela: German election shows how city mayors can seize power

Notwithstanding sundry ruminations on what the final days of Angela Merkel mean for Germany, Britain and Europe (a fair few of which have been written by me, since first meeting her as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989), the light in politics changes fast. At a sparsely populated results party hosted by her Christian Democrat (CDU) loyalists, we were solemnly handed commemorative water bottles with “Thank you Merkel” emblazoned. It felt like veneration for a departed saint.

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