The Left | Surprise winner

Photo: Die Linke "My face isn't hanging anywhere here," reported Thomas Wulfes (Left Party) on Monday. His party did not have any election posters made with his likeness in the Spandau district, only one flyer in just 500 copies. The district association campaigned across the board for second votes for the party - and yet Wulfes won Spandau constituency 3 in the Berlin House of Representatives election on Sunday, just as surprisingly to himself as to everyone else. That's why he's now entering parliament. It is the first time that a leftist has won a constituency in Spandau. “I never expected that,” says Wulfes. With 21.3 percent of the first votes, he was able to keep the CDU candidate Kerstin Brauner at bay with a lead of 1.2 percentage points. “This is a victory for our district association and not for me as a person,” emphasizes Wulfes modestly – or that is how he realistically assesses it. He thanks everyone who made this possible with a committed election campaign

“My life plans were completely thrown out of whack yesterday,” Wulfes admits to “nd” on Monday. He is the spokesman, i.e. district chairman of the Left in Spandau. But he had no intention of entering parliament. For the House of Representatives, he was placed in the hopeless fourth place on his party's district list. Even when it comes to the district assembly, Wulfes was content with place 14 out of 15 on the list. Now he wants to prove his reliability to his voters and accept the House of Representatives mandate. “I’m up for it too,” assures the 27-year-old.

Wulfes only joined the Left at the end of 2023 after he and many colleagues were recently fired from an online retailer. “In case of doubt, we are at the mercy of capital,” Wulfes recognized and joined the socialists. He says he had only voted for this party once before. Wulfes was born and raised in Spandau and studied business administration. After his dismissal, he found a new job at Deutsche Bahn. But many former colleagues are still unemployed today, Wulfes regrets. He casually introduced himself to voters on the Internet with the words: "Hello, I'm Thomas Wulfes, but most people call me Tommi."

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