Olaf Scholz seeks three-way coalition after SPD's narrow German election win – video
The conservative rule in Germany under Angela Merkel's centre-right CDU party has ended after 16 years, as official preliminary results show the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) secured 25.7% of the vote and CDU won 24.1%.
The SPD leader and current finance minister, Olaf Scholz, said in a speech on election night that Germans had voted for the party because 'they want the name of the next chancellor to be Olaf Scholz'.
He said the citizens of Germany had given 'a clear mandate' for a three-way coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP