- Scholz’s SPD narrowly defeats far-right AfD in crucial Brandenburg election
- Exit polls suggest Scholz’s SPD secured just one or two percentage points more than far-right
- Far-right movement has been closely watched in Germany following first state election win since WW2
Scholz’s SPD narrowly defeats far-right AfD in crucial Brandenburg election
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz narrowly avoided a significant political setback as exit polls suggest his Social Democratic Party (SPD) managed to hold off the far-right in his home state of Brandenburg.
In Sunday’s regional election, Scholz’s centre-left SPD reportedly won by a slim margin, securing just one or two percentage points more than the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to exit polls from the country’s two main public broadcasters. The SPD was projected to receive 31-32% of the vote, with AfD close behind at 29-30%.
Brandenburg, governed by the SPD since German reunification in 1990, was seen as a potential victory for the AfD, which had recently made significant gains in the region. The far-right party’s momentum has been closely watched after it became the first to win a state election in Thuringia since WW2 on September 1, and narrowly missed taking Saxony the same day.
A win for the AfD in Brandenburg would have delivered a major blow to Scholz’s leadership ahead of next year’s federal elections, especially as the Chancellor resides in the state’s capital, Potsdam. His coalition government has struggled with internal discord and declining approval ratings, but the roughly two million voters in Brandenburg may have provided him with a much-needed boost.