The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is "very, very close" to taking power in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, its deputy parliamentary leader has told the BBC, after a historic victory in elections there. 8% of the vote.

It is now seeking support from other parties or individuals in order to govern. While most German political parties refuse to work with the AfD, Beatrix von Storch called for its opponents to enter talks and said: " You cannot say, I do not accept the vote of the people".

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was "deeply shocked" by the result, describing it as "seismic... 2% in the state's preliminary results.

Merz said it was not possible to return to "business as usual", adding that the country needed "profound reforms" and the CDU needed to "reach people at an emotional level". No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing and local education.

Von Storch said the state's results "were on the table and now democrats have to talk to [one] another. 1 million and the AfD in the state is assessed by domestic intelligence as "right-wing extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund, 35.

The party's plans for Saxony-Anhalt, which include segregating child refugees into special classes and setting up a task-force to help detain and deport migrants who no longer have the right to be in the state, are highly controversial within Germany. The AfD is currently heading for 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament instead of the 42 needed for an outright majority, although the result has not yet been finalised.

One idea being floated is an informal deal whereby a small party - the BSW - could give their tacit support to allow the AfD to form a minority government. The left-wing populist BSW, which is set to win five seats, is also tough on immigration and backs importing Russian gas.

Siegmund said discussions with other parties were initiated on Sunday night and could potentially take days or weeks to conclude. " We reach out to everybody first, we will have consultations and then we'll see whether [there are] individual parliamentary groups or MPs who would be willing to help us," he added.

Another possibility - at least in theory - is a messy, minority coalition government led by the conservative CDU party. But that appears very unlikely.