Far-right gains and a ‘sharper and edgier’ chancellor are among the takeaways from the country’s contest, an expert says.

Friedrich Merz is set to become the next Chancellor at a time of great tumult at home and abroad, writes John Kampfner.

Exit polls show the center-right Christian Democratic Union party leading, with the AfD party heading towards the strongest showing of the far-right since World War II.

Germany's conservatives won the national election on Sunday, while the far-right Alternative for Germany came in second, its best ever result.

Friedrich Merz is set to become Germany’s next chancellor after his centre-Right Christian Democratic Union [CDU] party won the election on Sunday night.

Maps show how every district in Germany voted. The conservative Christian Democrats have won the most seats while the far-right AfD placed second.

Germany's far-right party the AfD finished second in the country's parliamentary elections and are hailing the outcome as a ‘historic result.'

The success of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is a sign of the times. Across Europe, far-right parties once on the fringe have gone mainstream.

German voters cast their ballots in Sunday’s election, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz claiming victory and Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceding defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is heading for the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left Party jointly secured one third of seats in the new parliament, enough to block a loosening of Germany's debt brake - a mechanism some investors and political parties say stymies economic growth.