BERLIN, Feb 2: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats suffered crushing defeats in two state elections on Sunday as voters vented their anger at high unemployment, tax hikes and near-recession, polls showed.

Not even Schroeder’s opposition to a possible Iraq war, which has left him isolated abroad but popular in war-weary Germany, was enough to offset public disgruntlement over the economy four months after he was re-elected.

The SPD suffered its worst results since 1945 in Schroeder’s home state of Lower Saxony and in Hesse, television projections showed after polling booths closed at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT).

Losing Lower Saxony makes it impossible for the SPD to circumvent the opposition conservatives Christian Democrats’ majority in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, and will force Schroeder to cooperate with them to get laws passed.

“This is a vote of no confidence in Schroeder and his government,” said conservative Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber, who was narrowly beaten by Schroeder in the September general election.

“We’re going to use this result to enforce a change in German politics.”

Ten million people were eligible to vote in the two states, the first test of sentiment since the September ballot.

One projection by the Infratest polling institute on ARD television showed the Christian Democrats (CDU) surged to 48.3 per cent in Lower Saxony from 35.9 per cent in the last election in 1998, with the SPD crashing 15 points to 33.0 per cent.

In the central state of Hesse, the CDU held on to power with an increased majority, scoring an absolute majority of 50.1 per cent, up from 43.4 per cent in the last election in 1999. The SPD plunged to 27.7 per cent from 39.4 per cent, the poll showed.

“LONELY CHANCELLOR”: Schroeder’s popularity has plummeted since he was re-elected on a wave of support for his anti-war stance on Iraq and his strong handling of devastating summer floods.