German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been officially nominated as the candidate for his Social Democrats (SPD) in the German city of Potsdam, near Berlin, ahead of elections set to be held in February. Scholz received 93% of votes from party members in his constituency in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

Germany's ruling Social Democrats officially made Chancellor Olaf Scholz their lead candidate on Monday for February's election, billing him as a safe pair of hands compared with the opposition conservatives contender who has no government experience.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday kicked off his re-election bid and prepared his party for an intensive campaign in his first major speech to around 500 party members in Berlin. The elections in February will be necessary due to the break-up of the governing coalition.

With less than three months to go until Germany's expected election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz came out swinging on Saturday, vowing to make his troubled Social Democrats (SPD) the strongest force in parliament.