Editing Free Democratic Party (Germany) (section)

=== 2009–2013: Merkel II government ===
In the [[2009 German federal election|September 2009 federal elections]], the FDP increased its share of the vote by 4.8 percentage points to 14.6%, an all-time record. This percentage was enough to offset a decline in the CDU/CSU's vote compared to 2005, to create a CDU-FDP centre-right governing coalition in the Bundestag with a 53% majority of seats. On election night, party leader Westerwelle said his party would work to ensure that civil liberties were respected and that Germany got an "equitable tax system and better education opportunities".<ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4728511,00.html Merkel to head new center-right government] [[Deutsche Welle]] 27 September 2009.</ref>

The party also made gains in the two state elections held at the same time, acquiring sufficient seats for a CDU-FDP coalition in the northernmost state, [[Schleswig-Holstein]],<ref>{{cite news |title=CDU and FDP form coalition in Schleswig-Holstein |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20091017/22639/ |newspaper=The Local Germany |publisher=The Local Europe AB |access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref> and gaining enough votes in left-leaning [[Brandenburg]] to clear the 5% hurdle to enter that state's parliament.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

However, after reaching its best ever election result in 2009, the FDP's support collapsed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/25/germany-liberal-collapse-free-democrats |title=Germany's Liberal Collapse |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 August 2009 |access-date=3 June 2012 |location=London |first=Hans |last=Kundnani}}</ref> The party's policy pledges were put on hold by Merkel as the [[Great Recession]] unfolded and with the onset of the [[European debt crisis]] in 2010.<ref>Brian Parkin and Tony Czuczka (23 September 2013), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-22/german-king-makers-fdp-face-parliamentary-exile-after-64-years.html German 'King Makers' FDP Face Parliamentary Exile] ''[[Bloomberg News]]''.</ref> By the end of 2010, the party's support had dropped to as low as 5%. The FDP retained their seats in the state elections in [[2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election|North Rhine-Westphalia]], which was held six months after the federal election, but out of the seven state elections that have been held since 2009, the FDP have lost all their seats in five of them due to failing to cross the 5% threshold.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Witting|first=Volker|date=25 November 2021|title=Who is Christian Lindner, Germany's new Finance Minister?|work=[[Deutsche Welle]]|url=https://www.dw.com/en/who-is-christian-lindner-germanys-new-finance-minister/a-59627580|access-date=20 February 2022}}</ref>

Support for the party further eroded amid infighting and an internal rebellion over euro-area bailouts during the debt crisis.<ref>Leon Mangasarian (17 September 2013), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/merkel-s-fdp-ally-begs-for-her-party-s-votes-in-survival-fight.html Merkel's FDP Ally Begs for Her Party's Votes in Survival Fight] ''[[Bloomberg News]]''.</ref>

Westerwelle stepped down as party leader following the 2011 state elections, in which the party was wiped out in [[2011 Saxony-Anhalt state election|Saxony-Anhalt]] and [[2011 Rhineland-Palatinate state election|Rhineland-Palatinate]] and lost half its seats in [[2011 Baden-Württemberg state election|Baden-Württemberg]]. Westerwelle was replaced in May 2011 by [[Philipp Rösler]]. Rösler was the first cabinet minister and vice-chancellor of Asian background in Germany. Rösler was the first cabinet minister and vice-chancellor of Asian background in Germany. The change in leadership failed to revive the FDP's fortunes, however, and in the next series of state elections, the party lost all its seats in [[2011 Bremen state election|Bremen]], [[2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election|Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]], and [[2011 Berlin state election|Berlin]].<ref>{{citation|title=Rot-Grün als "große Koalition"|url=http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/nach-der-wahl-in-bremen-eine-rundum-ratlose-kanzlerin-1688143-infographic.html|magazine=[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]|date=23 May 2011|access-date=15 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925082144/http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/nach-der-wahl-in-bremen-eine-rundum-ratlose-kanzlerin-1688143-infographic.html|archive-date=25 September 2012}}</ref> In Berlin, the party lost nearly 75% of the support they had had in the previous election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0919/1224304355656.html |title=Berlin pirates force FDP to walk the plank |publisher=Irishtimes.com |date=19 September 2011 |access-date=3 June 2012}}</ref>

In March 2012, the FDP lost all their state-level representation in the [[2012 Saarland state election]]. However, this was offset by the [[2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election|Schleswig-Holstein]] state elections, when they achieved 8% of the vote, which was a severe loss of seats but still over the 5% threshold. In the snap elections in [[2012 North Rhine-Westphalia state election|North Rhine-Westphalia]] a week later, the FDP not only crossed the electoral threshold, but also increased its share of the votes to 2 percentage points higher than in the previous state election. This was attributed to the local leadership of [[Christian Lindner]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/in-rebuke-to-merkel-social-democrats-win-german-vote.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/in-rebuke-to-merkel-social-democrats-win-german-vote.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live | work=The New York Times | first=Nicholas | last=Kulish | title=Angela Merkel's Party Loses State Election in Germany | date=13 May 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>