Bundestag confirmed Friedrich Merz as Germany's new chancellor in a successful second vote after he unexpectedly lost an initial round earlier on Tuesday. Merz won 325 votes in favour — higher than the 316 required.

The leader of the CDU/CSU bloc, Friedrich Merz, was not elected as the new chancellor of Germany. He lacked the necessary votes in the first vote in the Bundestag, according to German Tagesschau. In the first round of voting,

Germany’s Friedrich Merz has formally become chancellor at the second attempt, hours after an unprecedented defeat signaled deep discontent within his coalition.