Learning English

Germany elections: Centre-left claim narrow win over Merkel's party

Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have claimed victory in the federal election, telling the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel it should no longer be in power. Rob and Neil discuss the news story and teach you some related vocabulary so you can talk about it too.

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The story 

It was an election night on a knife edge, with Germany's two main political parties jostling for pole position as the ballots were counted. The race was so tight that the leaders of Germany’s Social Democrats and the Conservative CDU-CSU union each now claims the right to try to form a government. 

Whoever is successful will become Germany's next Chancellor. “Let the poker game begin” declared the widely-read Bild newspaper in a headline this morning.  

Both parties are wooing Germany's Greens and the business-focused liberal FDP party.

Key words and phrases

pivotal
important and influential 

• Angela Merkel played a pivotal role in shaping the European Union.
• Cutting greenhouse emissions is a pivotal idea in tackling climate change.

usher in
make something important start to happen

• The Covid pandemic ushered in a new way of working for many employees.
• The invention of the jet plane ushered in a golden age of travel.

vie
compete with others to gain superiority

• The two teams are vying to be top of the table.
• Staff have to vie with each other to get the one promotion on offer.

To do

Try our quiz to see how well you've learned today's language.

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