Would-be successors to Angela Merkel clash in first of three TV debates

Encounter unlikely to have banished CDU nerves after snap poll suggests SPD's Olaf Scholz retains lead

The three politicians battling it out for the top job in German politics have clashed in a TV debate during which the leader of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats failed to regain lost momentum and ceded the role of continuity candidate to his centre-left rival.

Polls published before the first of three televised debates suggested the race to lead Germany into the post-Merkel era was more wide open than ever, with Olaf Scholz's SPD in a narrow lead over Armin Laschet's CDU and Annalena Baerbock's Green party following closely in third place.