Good morning from Berlin, The victory of the social democrat SPD party in the crucial state election in Brandenburg on Sunday was perceived as a relief for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and a “bitter defeat” for the main opposition Christian Democrats (CDU). According to the provisional official results, the SPD won 30.9% of the votes, closely followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which scored 29.2%. Leftist BSW (BSW) came third with 13.5%, while the CDU got 12.1%. Scholz’s coalition partners (Greens and liberals) did not reach the 5% threshold to enter the regional parliament. SPD may celebrate the victory, however, it is not certain that it will lead to a general renaissance of Scholz, whose SPD party ranks third in national polls - well behind CDU and AfD. Some attribute the victory to the popularity of the incumbent Brandenburg SPD chief Dietmar Woidke, an often critical voice of the federal government’s policies. Before the elections, Woidke had distanced himself from Scholz, while more than half of the SPD’s voters (52%) said in exit polls that they would not have voted for the SPD had it not been for Woidke. For CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who confirmed last week that he will run for the country’s chancellorship, Brandenburg’s elections was not a good result. Speaking to ZDF, CDU secretary-general Carsten Linnemann blamed the polarisation of the election campaign between the AfD and Woidke for the CDU's sombre result, arguing that CDU voters chose to vote for the incumbent minister-president and not their own party to avoid an AfD victory. Nick Alipour has all the details. Meanwhile, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) will have little time on Monday to digest the results of the third round of local elections as he prepares for talks with car sector leaders on getting the country’s largest industry back on track. Jonathan Packroff has the story. | 