German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) looked set to fend off the far right in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday after trailing behind the Alternative for Germany (AfD) throughout the campaign,

A state election is taking place in Brandenburg three weeks after a far-right party made gains in two other states in eastern Germany.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats have ruled the eastern German region of Brandenburg since reunification in 1990, but their grip on power is under threat from the far-right Alternative for Germany in Sunday’s election in the former communist state.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) managed to fend off the far-right AfD in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday after trailing behind the party throughout the campaign, according to exit polls.

Brandenburg is a longstanding stronghold for the party. But it is located in Germany’s relatively impoverished east, where the anti-immigrant A f D performs far better than in the west. That made this election a test of whether the SPD could beat the populists on its home ground.

Projections based on initial election results in the eastern German state of Brandenburg give the incumbent centre-left Social Democrats a narrow lead over the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).