"The members have the final say," said party chairman Lars Klingbeil. "The members will make the final decision." Klingbeil is expected to take on leadership of the SPD's much reduced parliamentary group on Wednesday before representing the party in coalition talks with the CDU.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has admitted his Social Democratic Party (SPD) has suffered a "bitter election result," after preliminary figures showed the party plunging to its worst performance in the country's post-war history.

Lars Klingbeil, the party leader of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), has announced an overhaul of his party following its defeat in Sunday's federal election. "This result will require upheavals within the SPD,