Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, the biggest donor to President Donald Trump's election effort, has also publicly backed the AfD.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives came out on top in municipal elections in the country’s most populous state, but the Alternative for Germany party nearly tripled its support.

As many as six candidates for Germany's far-right AfD have died in recent weeks ahead of local elections in the big western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Police have made clear there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths, but it means that new ballots will have to be printed and some postal voters will have to recast their ballots.

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored major gains in local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, nearly tripling its vote share

Six members of Germany’s right-wing AfD party have died within weeks of each other, sparking conspiracy theories despite assurances from authorities that no foul play was involved.