For 13 years since its founding, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been trying to present itself as a serious and viable choice for government.

Its attempts to shed its association with neo-Nazis and overcome its “extremist” classification appear to have paid off following its victory in the Saxony-Anhalt elections.

Now voters in the east German state will now be able to call upon a former Stasi agent, an alleged pagan worshipper and an ex-porn actor to represent their views in the state parliament.

The colourful characters were among the 39 AfD deputies elected on Sunday, which left the party three seats short of a majority but in prime position to form the state government.

The AfD campaign was led by Ulrich Siegmund, its candidate for state governor, a smiling everyman who managed to captivate local voters with his meet-and-greet tactics.

A former member of the centre-Right CDU, Mr Siegmund successfully pitched his party as an alternative for conservative voters who were fed up with the policies of Friedrich Merz’s stuttering federal government.

But a number of unlikely politicians were among Mr Siegmund’s candidate list.

Frank-Ronald Bischoff, who won a constituency seat, has admitted to working as a senior Stasi officer.

For 12 years, the 78-year-old worked covertly to subdue anti-communist protests in the dying days of the GDR and targeted citizens who applied to leave, according to local reports.

When confronted about his role in the secret police in 2017, he told Bild: “I do not comment on questions regarding the Stasi. I faithfully and conscientiously fulfilled my duties according to the laws of the GDR.”

Despite the AfD regularly accusing the CDU of enabling communism, Mr Bischoff comfortably won his constituency.

Two other candidates won their seats with majorities of over 40 per cent despite being under investigation by police for their alleged role in a banned racist sect.

Simon Lansmann was victorious in the district of Salzwedel, where police previously prevented a pagan ritual from taking place at his dairy farm on the summer solstice.

Attendees at the nocturnal event blew horns, carried torches and sang a Hitler Youth anthem, according to a report in Der Spiegel.

Police believe that the ritual was connected to Artgemeinschaft, a pagan sect that instructs its followers to breed only with members of the Germanic race. The sect was banned in 2023 over its similarities to Nazi ideology.

In August, police raided Mr Lansmann’s home as part of searches of 15 properties across Germany.

Investigators believe that the work of the sect has been continued in secret.

Mr Lansmann has denied involvement and said that Nazi songs were not part of the “official programme” at the event.

Sebastian Koch is also under investigation over the Artgemeinschaft meetings and was involved in a neo-Nazi fraternity when he was younger.

The 39-year-old has described his previous links to the neo-Nazi scene as “a phase”, and has denied having any connection to the Artgemeinschaft sect.

Phillipp-Anders Rau, a convicted thief who was ejected from university for lying about the results of his school leaving exams, is also in the new cohort.

He challenged the university’s decision by pleading that he was addicted to cocaine at the time of his application and was not in control of his actions.

The 43-year-old was convicted of stealing 100 towels and large quantities of bed linen from a Munich hotel in 2009.

Mr Rau, who attended Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago election party in 2024, has also admitted to involvement in porn films.

Videos depict the politician engaged in sexual activities near a bank machine in the city of Magdeburg, and in a car on the autobahn. He has insisted he never made a financial profit from his pornographic activities.

The AfD’s success in Saxony-Anhalt has panicked its rivals.

When the party, as is likely, takes over the state interior ministry, it will also gain control of the intelligence agency that comes with it, and its classified information.

In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD was under surveillance by the intelligence services, allowing agents to recruit informants inside the party and tap its phone calls.

Now the tables could be turned, with the AfD learning how it was targeted and the extent of Russian interference in Germany.

State interior ministers are frantically discussing how they can cut Saxony-Anhalt off from classified information normally shared between states.

“Placing control over security agencies in the hands of an anti-constitutional party with close ties to Russia poses a serious security risk,” said Andy Grote, an interior minister from Hamburg.

Stephan Kramer, a Social Democrat who runs the state intelligence service in Thuringia, has demanded that Saxony-Anhalt only receives intelligence on a “need-to-know basis”.