After a tight election, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats come out just in front

Editor’s note: this story has been updated to take in the release of official preliminary results

THE ATRIUM of the Willy Brandt House, the Berlin headquarters of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), erupted in cheers on the evening of September 26th, as an exit poll suggested that the centre-left party had a narrow lead in Germany’s national election. Preliminary official results published the next morning made clear that Olaf Scholz, the SPD’s candidate to replace Angela Merkel in the chancellery, had secured an early edge. They gave the SPD 25.7% of the vote, ahead of the conservative Christian Democrats and their Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), on 24.1%.