Germans in the state of Brandenburg were voting in a regional election on Sunday with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish first, building on successes in other eastern states and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in one of their traditional strongholds.

Anger over the federal government’s policies of war and social cutbacks is manifesting itself in massive losses for the establishment parties, from which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left Party split-off Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) are benefiting.

The ruling SPD has just scraped by in a critical electoral test, but a closer look at the numbers show trouble for next year's elections.