German Chancellor Merz vows to stay on despite 'disaster' in state election

Embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay on despite exit polls in two local elections suggesting damaging defeats for his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

In the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party was projected to only just scrape into parliament, while the AfD was on track to win the most votes. Merz called the result "a disaster".

In Berlin, the ruling CDU was also expected to be beaten by Die Linke (The Left).

Merz is under mounting pressure, with poor approval ratings and rumours he could even be replaced mid-term in a so-called chancellor swap.

Votes took place on Sunday, a fortnight after the CDU saw its vote halved as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Polls for both states closed at 18:00 local time (17:00 BST), with a final result expected in the coming hours.

According to public broadcaster ZDF, the AfD was projected to take 38% of the vote share in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. However, it is unlikely to govern in the state as other parties refuse to work with it.

For Berlin, the broadcaster put the CDU on 20% of the vote share when polls closed, behind Die Linke on nearly 26%.

Prior to Sunday's elections, there had been intense speculation in Germany that Merz could be replaced unless his party's political fortunes improved.

Earlier this week, the leaders of eight German states backed Merz, who has only held the post for 16 months.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.