With German Greens second in polls, party seeks to pick candidate for chancellorship

The eventual successor of Angela Merkel as chancellor could be named by a rival party today , as Germany focuses on who will lead her Christian Democrats (CDU) into September’s elections.

The German Greens are set to name their candidate for the chancellorship today, and for the first time they have a genuine chance of winning power.

Either Robert Habeck, an academic and novelist, or Annalena Baerbock will be named as the Green candidate – and if the polls are right they, rather than the CDU, could inherit the keys to the chancellery from Ms Merkel.

There is no end in sight to the drama over the CDU’s candidate for chancellor, with party leader Amrin Laschet and his rival, Bavarian state leader of the CSU sister party, Markus Soder, both refusing to back down.

While the conservatives have insisted that the two men remain in constructive talks, last night they appeared set to miss a deadline to reach an agreement, and concern is growing over a deepening rift in the run-up to the election.

The Greens are second in the polls on 23pc. Ms Merkel’s CDU is still ahead on 27pc, but its support has dropped 10 points since January.

A rival coalition of the Greens and left-leaning parties might unseat the CDU in September – and the Greens could be the biggest group.

Mr Habeck and Ms Baerbock, a trampoline champion in her youth, have both been key to the party’s recent success. For years the Greens were divided by infighting between environmentalists known as the “Fundis” and the more pragmatic, centrist “Realos”.

When Mr Habeck and Ms Baerbock were named as joint leaders in 2018, it was a signal that the fighting was over and the Realos had won. For the first time both leaders were pragmatists prepared to occupy the centre ground. But now the party faces an agonising choice between its two standard bearers.

The 51-year-old Mr Habeck seemed the obvious choice. He was charismatic, with an unpolished style that appealed to voters tired of smooth-talking politicians.

But as the novelty wore off, Ms Baerbock (40) has looked increasingly assured in recent months.

© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]