Even if one has long believed the victory to be certain, it must be a liberating feeling for the supporters when the bar for one's own party actually grows higher and higher on the canvas.

As high as it has been in a long time for the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Manuela Schwesig's party saw initial forecasts at a good 38 percent.

It is her first choice as prime minister.

It's a triumph.

And a reason to cheer for the fans.

Anna-Lena Ripperger

Editor in politics.

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Matthias Wyssuwa

Political correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.

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When Schwesig makes her way to the stage with her husband and children shortly after 6 p.m. and then picks up the microphone, she speaks of a wonderful evening for the country and the party.

She says it twice.

She is visibly touched.

Over and over again applause.

The SPD has invited people to the courtyard of an Italian restaurant in Schwerin's old town.

Schwesig's predecessor Erwin Sellering celebrated his last election victory there - in 2016 he won 30.6 percent with the SPD.

That sounds almost measly on this Sunday.

Now Schwesig can choose who she wants to continue to rule with.

The SPD and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have belonged together for a long time. The party has provided the Prime Minister for 28 years; for the first eight years it ruled with the Left - or its predecessor party, the PDS - and since 2006 with the CDU. The election campaign discussed how to cope with the consequences of the corona pandemic, how the economy can grow and wages can get better, it was about digitization and schools, which are threatened with a teacher shortage. There would have been cause for criticism of the government, but nothing seemed to hit the SPD, let alone Schwesig. In the corona pandemic, she presented herself as a crisis manager, everything was geared towards her during the election campaign. "The woman for MV" was on a series of posters that did not have a party logo,and so it will be announced on the stage on election evening. 

Schwesig will be very personal in her speech on the evening of the election

Schwesig himself then becomes very personal.

She speaks of her serious illness, which she has survived.

Her voice breaks for a moment.

On the other hand, she sounds very clear when she briefly talks about the next coalition: On this Monday evening, the party leadership will advise on whom to invite for talks.

She later speaks of reliable partners that you need and stable majorities.

And so much is left open.

For as long as the SPD could be sure of victory, the CDU suspected that election Sunday would be painful. The projections after 6 p.m. confirm the worst fears: You see the party at just 14 percent. It is the CDU's weakest result in the country, in 2016 it was 19 percent. The CDU has invited to the election party in the orangery in the Burggarten. There, the poor performance of their own party hardly seems to surprise anyone - they have prepared for the debacle and endure it with composure.

When the top candidate Michael Sack, along with the CDU top candidate for the federal election, Philipp Amthor, enters the room, he is greeted with long applause. Sack speaks of a difficult evening for the CDU in federal and state. Sack's voice is firm, but he seems touched by recent events. The result for the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is "catastrophic" and shows that the voters no longer trusted the party so much, he says.

Amthor expresses himself similarly.

And adds: "We stand together as a team." The CDU will not be discouraged.

Sack answers the question in the room about “how to proceed” with a request for patience.

The party executive will meet this Monday, it is difficult to make decisions now.

In the evening it was said from the party that some were just happy that the election campaign was over.