Brandenburg election: Olaf Scholz's SPD narrowly beats AfD - exit polls

The chancellor's hopes of a second term are bolstered as his SPD is set to defeat the far right in Brandenburg.

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Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) won Sunday's regional election in stronghold Brandenburg by just one or two percentage points, according to polls by the two main public broadcasters.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) stood a chance of winning the state, which has been governed by the SPD since German reunification in 1990.

But after voting ended at 18:00 (16:00 GMT), predictions put the SPD on 31 to 32% to the AfD's 29 to 30%.

The election, on the outskirts of Berlin, was being watched closely after the AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War Two, in the eastern state of Thuringia, on 1 September.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24315lrv18o

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