Social Democrats beat Angela Merkel’s Union bloc in Germany’s national election

Olaf Scholz, finance minister and SPD candidate for Chancellor, leaves after attending a TV broadcast on the parliamentary elections in Berlin (Michael Probst/AP)

The centre-left Social Democrats have won the biggest share of the vote in Germany’s national election, beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Union bloc in a closely-fought race.

Election officials said early on Monday that a count of all 299 constituencies showed the Social Democrats won 25.9% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for the Union bloc.