German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had hoped for this outcome when he called for the confidence vote, analysts say. His aim: to win fresh elections in February and come back with a stronger mandate.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost a confidence vote in the German parliament, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in February.

Polls suggest that a February election will result in a rightward shift, at a moment when Europe’s largest economy is faltering.