Helmut Born is a member of ver.di and on the local executive of ver.di Düsseldorf. He is also a member of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO), the section of the Fourth International in Ger-many.
The first round of the local elections took place against a backdrop of widespread creeping fascism in France and comes after a brutal offensive by the far right, during which the traditional ‘Republican’ right has decisively broken from much of its historical framework and values.