New Delhi: Alice Weidel, the openly gay co-leader of Germany’s far-right AfD, has become a paradoxical figure as the party increasingly consolidates power.
Weidel lives in a registered partnership with Sri Lankan-born Swiss film producer Sarah Bossard, CBS News reported. The couple has raised two sons together, primarily in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, while Weidel maintains an official residence in her electoral district of Überlingen, Germany, and works in Berlin.
This personal life stands in contrast to the AfD’s campaigns against immigration, its skepticism toward expanding LGBTQ rights, and its emphasis on traditional family structures. Weidel has championed these positions, including calls for tougher deportation policies, criticism of climate measures, and steering the party in a more nationalist direction.
Born in West Germany, Weidel grew up in Harsewinkel in a Roman Catholic family. She studied economics and business administration, earning a doctorate in economics with a focus on China’s pension system. Before entering politics, she worked as an analyst and later advised startups and international firms.
She joined the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2013, when the party primarily opposed eurozone bailouts. As migration became central to its platform, Weidel rose rapidly.
She was elected to the federal executive in 2015, became co-leader of the parliamentary group in 2017, and was elected co-chair of the party in 2022. She was the AfD’s chancellor candidate in the 2025 federal election, in which the party secured more than 20 per cent of the vote and became the second-largest force in the Bundestag.
However, mainstream parties have maintained a “firewall” around the AfD, refusing national coalitions with it.
A polished, economically liberal and internationally experienced figure, Weidel has helped transform the AfD from a fringe Euroskeptic group into a major political force. Her grandfather was a Nazi-era judge appointed by Hitler, a family history she has said was not discussed at home.
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AfD’s rise in Saxony-Anhalt
The party’s rise was underscored by its performance in the September 2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election. The AfD’s local branch, classified by the state’s domestic intelligence agency as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation, won roughly 43.8 per cent of the vote.
The vote share was more than double its previous result, with the party securing 39 seats in the 83-member parliament, just short of an absolute majority. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU fell to about 17 per cent.
AfD leaders, including Weidel, claimed a clear mandate to govern, though other parties continue to refuse cooperation with the party, leaving government formation uncertain.
Edited by Maryam Hassan