Ulrich Siegmund is ‘the most dangerous man in Germany.’ So says Der Spiegel in a headline under a mug-shot style photo of him on its cover.

Siegmund, 35, leads the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in eastern Saxony-Anhalt state. Polls show him heading for victory in elections on 6 September, with his party on 41-43 per cent, compared with 22-24 per cent for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

If Siegmund wins, it will be the first time a far-right premier rules one of Germany’s Länder since the Federal Republic’s 1949 founding.

The AfD’s promises include kicking out rejected asylum seekers; forcing migrants to do menial work for benefits; replacing LGBTQ flags with German flags; axing state ministries and a public TV/radio levy; more social spending; tax cuts; and punishing those who imposed Covid-era restrictions. It vows to end German ‘self-hatred’ with less focus on Nazis and more on heroes like Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

Dressed in a white polo shirt with his trademark gelled hair and trimmed beard, a beaming Siegmund arrived at an 13 August rally in Loburg, a town surrounded by farms 90 minutes west of Berlin.

‘Everyone feeling good?!’ he called out, striding towards the crowd. Seeing a mother and daughter, he made a beeline for them and asked if they wanted a selfie with him. An assistant, whose only job is to ensure good selfies, took photos with the woman’s phone.

Siegmund does two or three of these rallies every day in Saxony-Anhalt, whose 2.1 million people have the lowest GDP per capita of all 16 German federal states.

There are few speeches at his campaign events. Instead, people queue up to ask a question, raise a concern and have their photo taken. Siegmund’s eyes never leave the person who’s telling him their fears and woes. He jousts with hecklers and smiles when he tells reporters he hated their last AfD story. Their politics may be diametrically opposed, but the politician he resembles is Bill Clinton who famously responded to a heckler by saying ‘I feel your pain’.

Harry is paying for his hubris

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