OLAF SCHOLZ, SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

A solid campaign performance by Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister and deputy to Merkel, has seen him unexpectedly become the leading contender to succeed the outgoing chancellor.

His SPD suffered the worst electoral result in its history in 2017 with 20.5 per cent of the vote, and its numbers slid further as junior coalition partner to Merkel’s conservatives. But Scholz’s campaign has seen the party resurrect itself, and the chancellorship is now his to lose.

Although he started his political career far on the left, the now firm moderate is the SPD’s most popular politician by far.

During his time in government, the calm 63-year-old became the face of Germany’s multibillion-euro stimulus response to the coronavirus crisis.

A trained lawyer, Scholz served in 2007 as labour and social affairs minister in Merkel’s first coalition government with the SPD.

Four years later, he headed to Hamburg, where he became the city’s mayor, before returning to government in Berlin.

ARMIN LASCHET, CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS

As the leader of the conservative CDU since January and a natural successor to Merkel, Armin Laschet initially had the strongest claim to be Germany’s chancellor after the September elections.

However, the CDU and their Bavarian-based CSU sister party suffered a sharp slump in opinion polls amid frustration over the extended coronavirus lockdown and a series of political scandals and campaign gaffes – the worst being when Laschet was seen laughing during solemn remarks by Germany’s president about floods in the summer.

Although he is the premier of North Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state and its industrial heartland, and has the support of the CDU party leadership, the 60-year-old Laschet has had a popularity problem among the electorate.

A practising Catholic, Laschet – a father of three – initially wanted to be a journalist, then moved into publishing before switching to politics.

A former member of both the German and European parliaments, the consensus-driven politician held several ministerial portfolios in North Rhine Westphalia before leading the CDU to victory in the state in the 2017 election.

ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GREENS

Annalena Baerbock’s candidacy marks a departure from the norm – not only does it mark a major generational shift in German politics, it is also the first time in its four-decade history that the Greens have presented their own candidate for chancellor in a federal election.

Baerbock made negative headlines during a campaign that saw her party slump from briefly occupying the lead to a clear third place. Among other things, she belatedly reported special payments that she received from her party and inconsistencies were discovered in her official resume.

Pitching a “new start” for Germany, the 40-year-old politician is 26 years younger than Merkel. She was born in the state of Lower Saxony in 1980, the year her party was founded.

She grew up in a left-wing household in a village south of Hanover and was often taken to anti-nuclear energy and anti-war demonstrations as a child. After graduating from high school, she studied politics and law in Hamburg, London and Berlin.

The mother of two daughters has lived in the eastern German state of Brandenburg for a number of years. There she was state chairman of the Greens from 2009 to 2013, and was also elected to the Bundestag in 2013. So far, she has no experience in government.