Germany's conservatives lead in first exit poll in Schleswig-Holstein state

Supporters of Schleswig Holstein's Prime Minister and CDU's (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) top candidate Daniel Guenther react at the election party in Kiel, Germany, May 8, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives (CDU) looked set to make a clear win a regional election in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, in a boost to the party which was ousted from national government in federal elections last year.

An exit poll by ARD Tagesschau put the CDU at 43% of the vote, up 11 percentage points compared to the last vote, while the Social Democrats slumped to 15.5%.

The environmental Greens and the pro-business FDP parties, who have been in a coalition with the conservatives since 2017 scored 17% and 7% respectively.

The South Schleswig Party (SSW), which represents the ethnic Danish minority, won 6% of the votes while both the far-right AfD and far-left Linke parties did not reach the 5% of votes necessary to secure seats in the state's parliament.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Maria Sheahan)