Olaf Scholz has officially been sworn in as the new Chancellor of Germany, bringing an end to Angela Merkel’s historic 16-year reign

Scholz has promised that he will work tirelessly to deliver a new start for Germany with his centre-left Social Democrats set to govern alongside the Greens and Free Democrats parties.

As Merkel left Berlin’s chancellor after an incredible 31 years in politics, she told Scholz, her former vice-chancellor, to take on the role “with joy”.

Scholz played a key role in the Merkel administration positioning himself as a stable candidate as Germany enters this next phase of its political history.

Germany’s parliament elected Scholz by 395 votes to 303 and he officially took the reigns as the ninth federal chancellor after being sworn in by Germany’s president.

All 16 ministers of Scholz’ new cabinet also took the oath of office becoming Germany’s first cabinet to include as many women as men.

Ambitious plans for a greener future

The new government has ambitious plans to fight climate change by phasing out coal early and focusing on renewable energy, but their initial priority will be tackling the COVID pandemic.

Health authorities have recorded another 69,601 cases in the past 24 hours and a further 527 deaths – the highest number since last winter.