The successor to East Germany's Communist Party has made a late surge two weeks before a national election after its leader stood up in parliament to lash the front-running conservatives for breaking a historic taboo on cooperating with the far right.

A new poll showed on Monday that Germany's The Left party has gained support two weeks ahead of the national election, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have lost ground.

Alternative for Germany appears to be heading for its strongest national election result yet this month and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany will hold a snap national election on Feb. 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition. Here are the main parties contending, their poll standings,

Even though the Alternative for Germany is highly unlikely to take a share of power soon, it has become a factor that other politicians can't ignore