German Chancellor Scholz heads a Social Democrats (SPD) (Scholz's party) coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
Main opposition party the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) gained in the election over the weekend in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. Incumbent Premier Hendrik Wüst is showing on 35.7% of the vote (the largest share of the vote and +2.7% from the 2017 result) and enough to put him the lead and well placed to continue as premier in a coalition government. Scholz's SPD came second on 27%. The Greens triopled their vote from 2017 to around 18%.
The result is being read as big loss for Scholz.
