No party has dominated the campaign but Angela Merkel’s successor, Armin Laschet has struggled to convince voters he should inherit the Chancellorship as head of Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU alliance. Lashchet has not been helped by his poor performance in TV debates and apparent lack of empathy for those who suffered during the devastating floods which hit his own region earlier in the summer. The environment has become a key theme of the campaign.
