German far-right leader is a Chinese-speaking economist with foreign partner

22/2/2025 15:27

Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), is an unlikely public face for a male-dominated, anti-immigration party that depicts itself as a defender of traditional family values and ordinary people.



The 46-year-old is raising two sons with a Sri Lankan-born woman, a filmmaker, and speaks fluent English and Mandarin, having done a doctorate in economics in China. A western German leading a party that is strongest in the former communist East, she worked for Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global Investors and as a freelance business consultant before entering politics.



Weidel's unusual profile, however, is precisely what makes her an asset to the AfD, say political analysts, lending a veneer of well-heeled liberal respectability to a party that is suspected by authorities of being antidemocratic.



Typically sporting a dark suit, white shirt and pearls, she comes across as more poised and competent on various topics than some of her colleagues, they say. Her critics call her a ruthless opportunist and a "wolf in sheep's clothing". She is on track to lead the 12-year-old party to a record score in Sunday's federal election that will consolidate its place in Germany's political landscape and potentially complicate governance in Europe's largest economy.