Germany’s conservatives set to win election in key state – exit polls

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s conservatives CDU party is on track to win a regional election in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), in a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats which won the federal election last year.

An exit poll by infratest dimap and published by broadcaster ARD on Sunday put the CDU at 35.0% of the vote, while the Social Democrats scored 27.5% in Germany’s most populous state.

The environmental Greens and the pro-business FDP parties won 18.5% and 5.0% respectively, meaning the Greens would be needed to build a coalition government.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Maria Sheahan)