The elections have highlighted the steady erosion in support for the so-called people’s parties — the CDU and the SPD — that have dominated Germany’s political life since 1949. Merz was aiming to secure at least 30 per cent of the vote for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party,

Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest

Germany’s Friedrich Merz promised to “achieve independence” from the US after his centre-right bloc won federal elections, putting him at the head of a potentially complex coalition at a time of upheaval for Europe.