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Zohran Mamdani won the New York mayor’s election in November last year. Inflation, rising rents and everyday expenses were major issues in his victory. His message was to make New York affordable for the common people.
The effect of his victory is now visible in the politics of Europe. European leaders, like Mamdani, are focusing on expensive rents, rising inflation and expenditure of common people.
The most interesting case is from Berlin, Germany. Elif Eralp won the election by making expensive houses an issue. The German media is now calling Eralp the ‘Mamdani of Berlin’.
At the same time, leftist leaders of France, Spain and Netherlands are also keeping an eye on Mamdani’s politics. In such a situation, it is believed that Mamdani has given the European Left a new way to contest elections.
1. Germany: Promised cheap houses, got the highest number of seats
Left Party’s leading candidate Elif Eralp addresses supporters during the election campaign in Berlin.
If any one leader in Europe can be linked most directly to Mamdani, it is Elif Eralp. Eralp, 45, is a lawyer and comes from a family of Turkish origin. His parents came to Germany after the Turkish military coup of 1980. Eralp joined The Link in 2017.
The biggest issue of his party in the elections held last month was – expensive cities and expensive rents. Eralp demanded bringing about 2.2 lakh houses owned by private companies in Berlin under public control.
The Link benefited from this. It got about 25.7% votes in the elections and emerged as the largest party. Now to form the government it will have to form an alliance with other parties.
2. Britain: Environmental issue linked to expensive houses
Green Party leader Jack Polanski speaking at St Pancras Gardens in London.
In Britain, Jack Polanski is most compared to Mamdani. He is the leader of the Green Party. This party has been doing politics mainly on environment and climate issues. But Polanski has expanded their scope.
Polanski links issues like inflation, expensive homes, rising rents, everyday expenses and higher taxes on the rich to environmental politics. Polanski calls this ‘eco-populism’.
Like Mamdani, Polanski is also making social media an important medium of politics. Polanski said that his video team is taking tips from Mamdani’s video making team.
Interestingly, Polanski is currently contesting from Holborn seat in London. A by-election is being held here on October 8 after former Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepped down from the post of MP.
In the elections held two years ago, the Green Party got only 10 percent votes here. Some surveys have estimated that this time Green may get 40 percent votes.
3. Spain: 87 year old woman thrown out of her house, government fell
Green Party leader Jack Polanski campaigning in London ahead of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
Expensive housing and rising rents are currently a big political issue in Spain. Last month, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from the home she had lived in for 70 years in Madrid. After this, protests started across the country. The case became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis.
The matter escalated so much that the pressure on the government to deal with the housing crisis increased. After the government’s housing proposal was rejected in Parliament, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced early general elections on 29 November.
This means that even in Spain, housing and rent are no longer just a social problem. They have become a direct issue of electoral politics.
4. France: Promise to build 60 thousand cheap houses in Paris
Emmanuel Grégor greeting supporters after his victory after being elected mayor of Paris in March this year.
Emmanuel Gregoire, the mayor of Paris, the capital of France, is associated with the Socialist Party. He has been elected mayor this year. Expensive houses and rising rents are big issues in his politics.
Grégoire talks about building more affordable housing in Paris, using vacant homes for people, and increasing rent control. The aim of his government is to build 60 thousand new affordable houses.
Even before Mamdani’s victory, some French leftist leaders had talked about learning from his campaign. Like Britain, here too Mamdani’s electoral style and way of giving direct messages was monitored.
5. Netherlands: Made housing shortage an issue, became the largest party
38-year-old D66 party leader Rob Yetten became the youngest Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
Even before Mamdani’s victory in the Netherlands, the issue of housing and rent had come to the center of electoral politics. D66 leader Rob Yeaton has made the housing crisis a major election issue in the 2025 national election.
At that time there was a shortage of about 4 lakh houses in the country. Buying a home had become expensive and rents were continuously increasing. That means there was a question in front of millions of people. When will we get a house before the government reduces inflation?
Yetton’s party D66 proposed to build 1 lakh new houses every year and develop 10 new townships. It also benefited in the elections. The party increased from 9 seats in 2023 to 26 seats in 2025 and became one of the largest parties.
That is, cheap housing and low rent in the Netherlands had become a big political issue in Europe even before Mamdani’s victory. Mamdani’s victory brought this debate into further discussion.
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