The German election result means that a three party coalition will almost certainly be needed to form a government. Olaf Scholz, the SPD leader, has made clear just now that he is going to try and form a coalition with the Greens and the Free Democrats.
Whoever succeeds her will take time to build up the authority that Merkel had in these meetings
Scholz has a strong claim on the chancellery. The SPD came first in the election and polls consistently showed that he was Germans’ preferred choice for candidate. Despite being from a different party, Scholz successfully positioned himself as the Merkel continuity candidate. The results might suggest a shift to the left among the German electorate. But German voters clearly want more Merkelism. Armin Laschet’s biggest error was to fail to convince voters that he was her heir despite being from the same party as her.
A traffic light coalition would not mark a radical departure from the policies of the Merkel-led grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and the SPD.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in