The next German government faces calls to loosen borrowing rules, slash energy costs and spur innovation. It won’t be easy.

On 23 February, Germany will vote to decide who will run their next federal government. There’s five candidates running to be chancellor – the frontrunner is Friedrich Mertz from the Christian Democrat party. In Germany, a single party rarely wins the majority of seats in the Bundestag, meaning coalition governments often form.

Germany's Robert Habeck, who had run in Sunday's election as the chancellor candidate for the environmentalist Greens, said he would no longer take a leading role in his party after what he described as a disappointing result.