Merkel's party scores decisive win in key state vote: exit

Chancellor Angela Merkel's party secured a decisive win in a crucial state election, exit polls showed today, in a devastating blow to her main rival four months before a national vote.
Her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) clinched a stunning 34.5 per cent in North Rhine-Westphalia, a Social Democratic Party (SPD) stronghold for decades. The SPD sank to its worst ever result in the western state with only 30.5 per cent, sharply down from the 39.1 per cent it obtained in 2012.