The Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Germany is facing internal debates over its leadership as the country approaches the Bundestag elections in September 2025. Despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz's confidence in his leadership, there are growing discussions within the SPD about potentially nominating Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as the chancellor candidate.

Pistorius is currently the most popular politician in Germany, which has sparked interest in his candidacy as a strategy to boost the SPD's standing, which has been trailing behind the Union in polls.

However, SPD party chief Lars Klingbeil has reiterated the party's support for Scholz, emphasizing that the official nomination will occur at the party congress in June 2025. Meanwhile, other major parties, including the CDU/CSU and the AfD, have already announced their candidates, with Friedrich Merz and Alice Weidel leading their respective parties into the election.

The Greens are expected to announce their candidate by November, with Robert Habeck as the likely choice.