Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats took the highest portion of a record number of votes. An ascendant far right, crumbling international order and sluggish German economy face the incoming chancellor.

He has vowed to prioritize European unity and the continent’s security as it grapples with the new Trump administration and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Merz, a man who has never held a government role, is preparing to take the reins in Germany just as the country faces economic and diplomatic crises.

The leader of the conservative Christian Democrats celebrated as exit polls indicated they had won Sunday’s election, which had the highest voter turnout in decades.

Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s CDU, is set to form a coalition after winning the most votes, per exit polls. The election saw Scholz’s SPD suffer a historic defeat and AfD make record gains. Merz now faces tough coalition talks to advance his agenda.

Friedrich Merz is on the brink of achieving a long-held goal of becoming Germany's next chancellor after initial results showed his conservative CDU/CSU bloc winning parliamentary elections on Sunday.

The centre-right CDU has emerged as the biggest party in the German election, making Merz the most likely to lead a government, following coalition negotiations.