Germany's AfD party nominates Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor

The AfD made the nomination at the start of a two-day gathering in Riesa, in the eastern state of Saxony, which is one of its strongholds.

Polls show AfD in second place ahead of the Feb. 23 election, with about 20% support. However, Weidel — who this week held a live chat with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has endorsed the party, on his X platform — has no realistic chance of becoming Germany's leader as other parties refuse to work with AfD.

It is the mainstream conservative opposition Union bloc that leads polls with around 30% and its candidate, Friedrich Merz, is the favourite to become the next chancellor.

Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hoping for a come-from-behind victory, but there has been little sign of significant movement so far in polls that show support for his Social Democrats at 14-17%.

Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed in November when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy. The election is being held seven months earlier than originally scheduled.

Our journalists are working on this story and will update it shortly.