The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, has warmly welcomed the election of Mr Gerhard Schroder, and signalled an immediate determination to cast the Anglo-German relationship as central to the future development of Europe.
Hailing Mr Schroder as "a new generation of German politician", Mr Cook said he believed his election "does consolidate what has been our objective since the [British] election, which is to make Britain a country of equal standing, equal respect and equal influence in Europe to France or Germany."
Mr Cook said he believed the new German Chancellor would bring a positive approach to dealings between the two countries, which would help make the Anglo-German relationship as important to Europe's development as the long-standing closeness between Germany and France.
Speaking to Talk Radio from the Labour Party conference, Mr Cook said: "Gerhard Schroder wants a good, close partnership with France, and we want good relations between Germany and France, but he is much more open to Britain being an equal partner. He is very positive about Britain, and did himself say during the campaign that Germany must not turn its back on Britain's ambition to be an equal member of the European Union."
The SDP is a "sister party" of Labour, and Mr Cook said the two had been in discussions in recent months about the SDP's programme for Europe. Mr Cook said Mr Schroder's victory raised the prospect, not only of Britain playing a more central role in Europe, but also of the three most powerful countries in Europe pursuing similar policy objectives on the domestic front.
He added: "We now have a very exciting outcome, parties to the left of centre in power in France, Germany and Britain, and that gives us a lot of opportunity to make sure we are broadly following similar objectives, for instance making sure we get a competitive market economy . . . but also to ensure we build a just society."
AFP adds: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, the first international leader to congratulate Mr Schroder, evoked the prospect of a triangle uniting the three centre-left governments now in power in Bonn, Paris and London.
"We have governments in France and Germany and Great Britain and elsewhere who share the same perspective," he said. "We will do what we can to create a Europe that is prosperous, that is a highly-competitive modern economy but combines that with strong levels of social justice."