Who could succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor?
The three major parties each have a candidate to head the next German government. Only parties who stand a chance of winning the most votes in an election put forward a candidate for the top job.
Olaf Scholz
Plumbing new depths with each election, the SPD decided to run a realist rather than a radical as their top candidate in 2021. Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former mayor of Hamburg, and Merkel's deputy in the grand coalition, is seen as dry and technocratic. But the 62-year-old has seen a marked rise in opinion polls, as voters crave stability and a safe pair of hands.
Armin Laschet
CDU chairman Armin Laschet, a long-time supporter of Angela Merkel, heads Germany's most populous state. Conservatives routinely underestimated the jovial 60-year-old, famous for his belief in integration and compromise. During the election campaign he has come across as vague and unfocussed and suffered in opinion polls following gaffes and slip-ups.
Annalena Baerbock
At the age of 40, Annalena Baerbock has been a Green Party co-chair since 2018. A jurist with a degree in public international law from the London School of Economics, her supporters see her as a safe pair of hands with a good grasp of detail. Her opponents point to her lack of governing or ministerial experience and her occasional gaffes in interviews.