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.

The executive committee of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) nominated Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday as the party's top candidate in upcoming early elections, following a tough and controversial internal debate.

Germany’s Social Democrats backed Chancellor Olaf Scholz as their lead candidate for February’s snap election, as they look to erase a big deficit in the polls.