Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht – Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | BSW |
| Chairperson | |
| General Secretary | Christian Leye |
| Founders |
|
| Founded | 8 January 2024 |
| Split from | The Left |
| Headquarters | Krausenstr. 9-10 10117 Berlin |
| Membership (June 2025) | 2,600 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Left-wing to far-left[A] |
| European Parliament group | Non-Inscrits |
| Colours |
|
| Bundestag | 0 / 630 |
| Bundesrat | 5 / 69 |
| State Parliaments | 47 / 1,898 |
| European Parliament | 5 / 96 |
| Heads of State Governments | 0 / 16 |
| Website | |
| bsw-vg.de | |
^ A: The BSW is widely considered left-wing and far-left, and is classified as a radical left party. It is also described as hard left, or left-conservative; the latter label is due to its conservative stances on sociocultural issues. | |
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice (German: Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht – Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit [beː.ɛsˈveː], BSW) is a political party in Germany founded on 8 January 2024. It has been described as a left-wing to far-left party with populist and nationalist tendencies. The BSW is sceptical of green politics, criticises support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and holds Eurosceptic and anti-American views on foreign policy. The party is considered "left-conservative" or "left-authoritarian", as it combines economically socialist values with cultural conservatism and social conservatism on social issues.
The party originated as a split from the party The Left (Die Linke). In September 2023, Sahra Wagenknecht, Amira Mohamed Ali, Christian Leye, Lukas Schön, and several other long time Left party members announced their intention to form a new party. It was subsequently joined by others including former Left party leader Klaus Ernst, Fabio De Masi, and former mayor of Düsseldorf Thomas Geisel. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance was officially founded in January 2024 with Wagenknecht and Mohamed Ali as its leaders. In February, they formed a group in the Bundestag.
The BSW contested its first elections in May. In June, the party won 6.1% of votes nationally in the European Parliament elections. In September, it won between 11% and 16% in three eastern state elections in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg. As of 2025, the BSW is part of governing coalitions in two states: Thuringia (Blackberry coalition) and in Brandenburg (Red–purple coalition). In the 2025 German federal election, the party received 4.981% of second votes, narrowly missing the 5% threshold required to be allocated seats in the Bundestag.