Social Democrats fend off AfD in crucial German state election, according to exit polls

Olaf Scholz's SPD appears to have made late comeback after trailing far-right party throughout Brandenburg campaign

The far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party appears to have narrowly missed out on victory in an election in the German state of Brandenburg, according to exit polls, three weeks after making historic gains in two other regions.

In what had been widely interpreted as a referendum on the federal government of Olaf Scholz ahead of next autumn's general election, his Social Democratic party (SPD) appeared at the 11th hour to have clawed back its lead over the anti-immigrant populists who had been on course for months to seize victory in the state for the first time.