The Social Democrats’ surge upends Germany’s election campaign

THE CROWD at the UfaFabrik, a cultural centre in Berlin, cheers as the moderator reveals a new opinion poll: Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have overtaken the Green Party for the first time in a year. It falls to Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister and the SPD’s candidate for the chancellery, to calm his own supporters. It’s election day that counts, he says, before proceeding to a sober discussion of Afghanistan and other themes. In a display of party unity Mr Scholz is welcomed by Kevin Kühnert, a leftist former leader of the SPD’s youth wing who for years was a major irritant to the party’s centrist leadership.