With unpopularity of Scholz, social democrats bitter historical defeat

The Scholz government also suffered from persistent unpopularity. In November 2024, he had only 14% approval.

In early November, the coalition finally disintegrated. The trigger for the collapse of the alliance came from the liberals, minor partners of the coalition. At the time, Scholz and Liberal leader Christian Lindner, who held the position of Finance Minister, exchanged accusations in public.

In a television pronouncement, Scholz said Lindner had broken his confidence and accused him of just thinking about his political survival. The break actually sealed the end of the triple party alliance nicknamed “traffic light”, in reference to the colors of the parties that integrated it.

Thus, the Scholz government, now reduced to SPD and green, has lost the support of the 90 FDP deputies, becoming unable to ensure a majority. Only Scholz remained to pave the way for the convening of new elections – initially, the claim was scheduled for September.

Despite the unpopularity of the government, the SPD chose to keep Scholz as a candidate for reelection, removing a replacement for the “Kamala Harris style instead of Joe Biden” which was promoted by some party members.

Betting that the CDU could lose ground throughout the campaign as it had happened in 2021, Scholz led the SPD in this election with the slogan “with safety, more growth” and variations. However, as it was clear this Sunday, the strategy did not work.