The Social Democrats, the party of Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, have narrowly seen off a challenge by the far-Right AfD party in the eastern state of Brandenburg, early results suggest.

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.

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 and came a narrow second in Saxony on the same day.