Germany Germany's Social Democrats overwhelmingly back government deal The plan is for Scholz to be elected as chancellor on Wednesday and to lead a coalition with the Greens and Free Democrats. But before that can happen, members of the three parties need to approve the coalition deal. 04/12/2021
Germany German Greens vote to support formal coalition talks in party congress Germany's Greens voted in a party congress to support formal coalition talks with the Social Democrats and Liberals. 17/10/2021
Germany Profile: Social Democratic Party leader Olaf Scholz The SPD's candidate for chancellor has certainly made a name for himself on the international stage. 20/09/2021
Germany Germany: SPD ahead of Merkel's CDU in polls for first time in 15 years The change comes just a month before the country's federal election. 24/08/2021
Good Morning Europe Germany 'super election year' starts with state and regional ballots On Sunday two German states with a combined population of over 15 million people will elect new regional governments. It's the start of the so-called 'super election year' culminating with federal elections in September. 12/03/2021
Germany Angela Merkel's deputy Olaf Scholz to run for chancellor in 2021 vote Germany's current finance minister said he was unanimously designated as the Social Democratic Party's candidate in the upcoming election for chancellor. 10/08/2020
Germany Germany's social democrats look for alternatives to Merkel coalition A swing to the left could trigger a snap election and hasten Merkel's exit 09/06/2019
Germany Germany's SPD appoints three temporary leaders after Nahles resignation Germany's troubled Social Democrats (SPD) are in talks to appoint three temporary leaders following the resignation of Andrea Nahles as leader 03/06/2019
Germany Germany's Social Democrats seek leader after Nahles' resignation Andrea Nahles has quit as leader of the SPD, Angela Merkel's coalition parter, amid a slump in popularity. 02/06/2019
Europe News The Brief: A closer look at the European Greens In the lead up to the European elections, we are covering all of the political groupings. This time it's the turn of the Greens group. 07/05/2019
Germany Merkel's CDU, SPD bleed support in regional vote Merkel's CDU, SPD bleed support in regional vote 28/10/2018
Germany Merkel suffers another election setback in key German state of Hesse Both the parties in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition have suffered heavy losses in a regional election, exit polls suggest. 28/10/2018
View Bavarian election: Do not forget the biggest loser, SPD! | View SPD’s vote actually halved, from 20.6% in 2013, to just 9.7%! This marks the party’s worst result in Bavaria since the 1930s, and is the first state parliament now where they have fallen below the symbolic 10% threshold in recent history - a painful exercise for a former Volkspartei. 15/10/2018
Germany New German movement aims to revive country's left New German movement aims to revive country's left 04/09/2018
Germany German newspaper registers dog to vote in SPD coalition ballot Newspaper Bild signed Lima the dog up for the SPD using the party's online tool and her owner's email and postal addresses. 20/02/2018
Germany German Election: AI program shows bias Researchers used artificial intelligence to compare the manifestos of the German parties with the coalition agreement. And it showed that 70 percent of the content referred to the SPD manifesto and only 30 percent to that of the conservatives 13/02/2018
Germany Party praises Schulz for refusing government role in coalition deal Andrea Nahles, the favourite to lead the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), described Martin Schulz's decision as "remarkable and humane". 09/02/2018
Germany SPD party members will decide Germany's fate Germany's long-awaited coalition needs the backing of the party's young voters. 08/02/2018
Germany SPD-CDU "grand coalition" for Germany on hold All-night talks yet to bear fruit as many SPD rank and file call for any deal with Angela Merkel to be rejected. 07/02/2018
Germany German parties make final push to revive grand coalition A deal on health care and labour reforms are needed to prevent Germany from facing a second election within four months. 06/02/2018
Germany How fall of the Berlin Wall paved way for Germany’s populists Today many Easterners can't help but feel they were merely absorbed by their more wealthy, Western neighbors, rather than joining as equal partners. 05/02/2018
Europe News SPD base could veto German coalition Germany is inching closer toward forming a new government. The Social Democrats led by Martin Schulz narrowly voted on Sunday to start talks with Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. If talks go well, Merkel could begin her fourth term as Chancellor by April. 22/01/2018
Germany Germany's SPD back coalition talks in narrow vote Talks to begin reprise of "grand coalition" ending months of political deadlock 22/01/2018
Germany SPD congress clears leaders to talk coalitions with Angela Merkel Grassroots party members will get final say on any eventual deal. 21/01/2018
Germany Last chance for German coalition talks to begin Chancellor Angela Merkel says her conservative bloc and the Social Democrats still had difficult obstacles to clear before they could agree to enter coalition talks 11/01/2018
Germany Germany's Merkel battles for survival in 'last-ditch' talks with SPD The CDU-CSU are in preliminary talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) in what some are labelling a last chance to form a stable coalition in Germany. 08/01/2018