German elections: Merkel’s party defeated

Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have secured a narrow win over outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in national elections with party leader Olaf Scholz claiming a “clear mandate” to form the government for the first time since 2005.

Preliminary results on Monday morning showed the SPD on track for 26.0 percent of the vote, ahead of 24.1 percent for Merkel’s CDU-CSU conservatives, the worst by the CDU in 70 years.

The election is the first since Germany was reunified in 1990 that Merkel was not a candidate.

She will remain as a caretaker leader until a new government is in place.