Merkel came in third place, to the anti-immigration, eurosceptic AfD party in her own home state in statewide elections.

Please consider Merkel Suffers Humiliating Election Defeat on Home Turf

Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a humiliating defeat in German regional elections on her home turf on Sunday as voters turned their backs on her liberal refugee policy and gave the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party a political triumph.

A triumphant AfD pushed the chancellor's centre-right Christian Democrats into third place in the vote in rural Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with both coming behind the Social Democrats, the region's dominant political grouping.