Who is Olaf Scholz, Germany’s potential successor to Merkel?

Scholz is clear favourite to become chancellor once a governing coalition is formed, after the centre-left SPD edged out the conservatives.

Berlin, Germany – In late 2019, Olaf Scholz’s bid to lead the German Social Democrats (SPD) hit a brick wall.

Members voted instead for a lesser-known left-wing duo who promised to ditch the party’s loveless marriage with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

The days of the so-called “grand coalition”, under which Scholz served as finance minister and to which he remained loyal, were numbered. His own future was unclear.