The next chancellor of Germany will be confronted with the “to-do list” from hell.

Olaf Scholz’s chances of still being in power after February’s general election are, at best, vanishingly slim.

Monday’s vote of no confidence, which he lost, was never in doubt. It was a procedural step to a process begun back on Nov 5, when Mr Scholz fired his finance minister.

It means Germans will vote on Feb 23 for what, despite taking more than four months, is still called a “snap” election.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is far ahead in the polls.

It is fitting that Mr Scholz, who came to embody ponderous dithering, has signed such a lengthy political suicide note.