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Germany looks set to narrowly avoid having a far-right party as the strongest force in a second state on Sunday, just weeks the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party in post-war history to win an election.
The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) appear headed for a narrow election victory over the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, according to preliminary results.
Early figures point to a remarkable showing for Brandenburg’s incumbent SPD premier, Dietmar Woidke, who has led the state for 11 years and appears set to claim another term. Opinion polls weeks ahead of the vote showed the SPD trailing the AfD by as many as six percentage points.
The SPD has ruled in Brandenburg since 1990, when the first democratic elections were held in the state following the collapse of the communist regime in the former East Germany.

Projections based on initial results by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF at around 9pm local time gave Woidke’s SPD 30.7 per cent to 30.9 per cent of the vote.
The AfD, coming from an election win in the central state of Thuringia at the start of September, trailed in the projections with 29.5 per cent to 29.7 per cent.
That would be a meaningful gain from 2019, when the AfD got 23.5 per cent of the vote. But the AfD had hoped for a first-place finish over the SPD after opinion polls in the weeks before the election showed them in a narrow lead.
The projected results would be a significant improvement over the SPD’s performance in the most recent Brandenburg elections in 2019, when the party got 26.2 per cent. The party also outperformed opinion polls, which showed the SPD with about 27 per cent.
The projected results put the upstart populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) with a narrow lead for third place with 12.9 per cent to 13.3 per cent in the party’s first state election in Brandenburg.

The BSW, which launched as a party earlier this year, combines left-wing social policy with a hardline anti-immigration stance and strenuous opposition to Germany’s support for Ukraine.
The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) are projected to collect 11.8 per cent to 12.1 per cent, a major disappointment after polls suggested the party might gain seats. It is the worst-ever result for the CDU in a state election in the former East Germany.
The Greens, meanwhile, appeared likely to fall below the 5 per cent threshold generally needed to take seats in German elections and be shut out of the next Brandenburg parliament. The projections gave the Greens 4.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent, which would be a substantial decline from the 10.8 per cent the party gathered in 2019.
Woidke’s SPD is currently in a coalition government with the CDU and Greens, but the losses by both parties mean he will need to seek out new alliances to form another government.
The hard-left Die Linke (The Left) and the conservative Free Voters also appeared on track to lose their seats after losing support in Sunday’s election.

The SPD’s showing is also likely to be seen as a boost to embattled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, even though Woidke kept Scholz at arm’s length during the campaign. Polls show Scholz’s SPD coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats as being deeply unpopular.
Scholz, in New York for a UN summit, called the results “good, of course” but said he would wait until Monday before offering more detailed comments on them.
The news for the conservative CDU is not great. The Brandenburg election was the first one after Friedrich Merz was named the CDU’s chancellor candidate, so the party’s poor showing is likely to be seen unfavourably for the man who hopes to unseat Scholz next year.
The projected election results are based on initial results as well as exit polls. According to projections, voter turnout on Sunday was the highest in Brandenburg since 1990 at 73 per cent to 74 per cent, significantly higher than in 2019 (61.3 per cent).
When a party which is in part openly right-wing extremist succeeds here in Brandenburg with almost 30 per cent, then that must give us reason to reflect
Dietmar Woidke, Brandenburg’s incumbent SPD premier
Woidke, an affable 62-year-old agricultural engineer, campaigned hard against the AfD while also seeking to distance himself from German Scholz, who is mired with miserable approval ratings.
SPD co-chairman Lars Klingbeil on Sunday endorsed Scholz as candidate for chancellor in 2025 in view of the Brandenburg result.
Woidke had put his neck on the line by insisting that, if the SPD does not place first in the election, he would step down and no longer lead the Brandenburg government as state premier.
Opinion polls in the weeks ahead of the election showing the SPD trailing the AfD by as much as six percentage points improved just before the vote, leaving the two parties at an essential tie.
“We have made up ground like never before in the history of our state,” said Woidke at the SPD election party in Potsdam.

Woidke on Sunday evening called the AfD’s apparent gains cause for alarm and reflection, even if his party manages to hold on to first place.
“When a party which is in part openly right-wing extremist succeeds here in Brandenburg with almost 30 per cent, then that must give us reason to reflect,” Woidke said.
The CDU’s top candidate, meanwhile, called Sunday a “bitter evening” for the party as they fell “far below our expectations”.
The CDU’s Jan Redmann said he believes opinion polls showing the AfD in first place may have scared voters and pushed them to vote strategically for the SPD.


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Germany

Dietmar Woidke, centre, Brandenburg’s State Premier and SPD top candidate in the regional elections in Brandenburg, next to AfD top candidate Hans-Christoph Berndt, right, and CDU top candidate Jan Redmann, left, at the studio of German public broadcaster ARD during the electoral evening at the State Parliament (Landtag) in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Thuringia, at the AfD election party following the Brandenburg state elections on Sunday. Photo: dpa

Co-leaders of Germany’s AfD party Tino Chrupalla, right, and Alice Weidel, left, and AfD top candidate for the regional elections in Brandenburg Hans-Christoph Berndt, centre, address supporters in Potsdam, Germany on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Police accompany protesters with placards reading “Racism is no alternative” close to the election party venue of the AfD party in Potsdam, Germany on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Police allow a small group of demonstrators to come close to the election party venue of the AfD party in Potsdam, Germany on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Germany’s far-right AfD wins first regional election, exit polls show

People sit near a sign that reads “No to Nazis” on the day of the Thuringia state election in Erfurt, Germany on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

AfD member Bjorn Hocke speaks to the media after first exit polls in the Thuringia state elections, in Erfurt, Germany on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

People hold a banner reading “Bjoern Hoecke is a Nazi” during a protest on Sunday against an election party of AfD supporters for the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia at Berlin-Blankenburg. Photo: dpa

A children’s drawing reading “For our future” is fixed next to a sign indicating the way to a polling station in Maxen near Dresden, eastern Germany, during Saxony’s regional elections on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Protesters hold placards reading ‘Heart instead of agitation’ during a protest in commemoration of the Solingen knife attack, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

BSW party leader Sahra Wagenknecht, centre, and top candidate Katja Wolf, right, react after first exit polls in the Thuringia state elections in Erfurt, Germany on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators march from the Thuringian state parliament through Erfurt during an anti-fascist rally following the state elections in Thuringia, Germany on Sunday. Photo: dpa

Demonstrators march from the Thuringian state parliament through Erfurt during an anti-fascist rally on Sunday. Photo: dpa

UK PM Keir Starmer urges European allies to meet far-right ‘challenge’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of the Paralympics Games opening ceremony on Wednesday. They will meet in Paris on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

UK’s Keir Starmer warns that far-right offers ‘snake oil’ of easy answers

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Photo: BBC via Reuters

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an interview with the BBC. Photo: Photo: BBC via AFP

A portrait of Margaret Thatcher. File photo: Reuters

Germany’s Scholz seals migration deal with Uzbekistan on Central Asia visit

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, right, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz inside the Tilya-Kori Madrasah as they visit the Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Sunday. Photo: Uzbekistan’s Presidential Press Office via AP

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Centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) appear headed for narrow victory over Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Brandenburg, early results indicate


Centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) appear headed for narrow victory over Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Brandenburg, early results indicate.


European Union

Olaf Scholz