German election TV debate win adds to Olaf Scholz’s momentum in the race to succeed Angela Merkel

The SPD candidate was the clear winner in snap polling after the first of three encounters.

Olaf Scholz is displayed on a screen during the TV debate at the television studio in Berlin-Adlershof (MICHAEL KAPPELER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Last night (29 August) the first of three TV debates in the campaign ahead of Germany’s federal election on 26 September took place. Ahead of the event each of the three participants – the chancellor candidates of the three parties with a serious chance of leading the next government – faced a slightly different task.

Listen here to the first two episodes of Germany Elects, the New Statesman’s podcast series on the German election.

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Topics in this article : Angela Merkel , Germany

Jeremy Cliffe

@JeremyCliffe

Jeremy Cliffe is a Contributing Writer. Between 2019 and 2023 he was International Editor and Writer at Large at the New Statesman. This followed an eight-year career at The Economist during which he served as Bagehot and Charlemagne columnist, and bureau chief in Brussels and Berlin.