HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party suffered a severe defeat Sunday in elections in the city-state of Hamburg, according to exit polls.
The BBC reported that Schroeder's Social Democratic Party will win just 32 percent of the vote in the state election, against more than 46 percent for the Christian Democrats. If that holds true in the official tally, it would be the SPD's worst result in Hamburg since World War II.
The outcome is being taken as a gauge of the public sentiment after Schroeder's recent program of welfare cuts.
Hamburg had been a Social Democrat stronghold until 2001 when a coalition led by the Christian Democrats ousted the party. The Hamburg poll was called after the government collapsed in December amid in-fighting in the coalition.
Sunday's elections are the first of 14 municipal, state and European elections to be held in Germany this year.
