Germany: exit polls show Olaf Scholz’s party narrowly beating far-right AfD in key state election – as it happened

Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock votes in the state election in Brandenburg. Photograph: Michael Bahlo/AP

8.08pm BST

Summary of the evening

• Germany’s Social Democratic party (SPD) appears to have narrowly won an election in the state of Brandenburg, according to exit polls, with the far right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) taking second place.

• Dietmar Woidke, Brandenburg’s leader, who had gambled his future on the result, saying he would resign if his SPD lost to the AfD, said he was relieved, ‘considering the starting position we were in”. He also urged SPD members to “put on the euphoria brakes” as the final result was not fully clear.

• At the AfD’s election gathering, Hans-Christoph Berndt, its main candidate, claimed his party were the “real victors” of the evening.

• All eyes had been on Brandenburg, population-wise one of Germany’s smallest states, after strong showings for the AfD earlier this month in Thuringia, where they came top with around 33% and in Saxony, where they came a narrow second behind the conservative CDU with 27.5%.

7.09pm BST

And here are the latest ARD projections:

BRANDENBURG | Hochrechnung Landtagswahl Infratest dimap/ARD, 20:00 Uhr

SPD: 30,7% (+4,5)
AfD: 29,6% (+6,1)
BSW: 13,1% (NEU)
CDU: 12,1% (-3,5)
GRÜNE: 4,6% (-6,2)
LINKE: 2,9% (-7,8)
BVB/FW: 2,5% (-2,5)
Sonstige: 4,5% (-3,7)

Änderungen zum Wahlergebnis von 2019#ltwbb pic.twitter.com/68rtMOeSZG

— Deutschland Wählt (@Wahlen_DE) September 22, 2024