Friedrich Merz fails to secure votes needed to become German chancellor

The leader of Germany's CDU party, Friedrich Merz, has failed to win enough votes in the first round to become chancellor. His CDU/CSU/SPD coalition has 328 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag, but he got only 310 votes – six short of the majority required to confirm him as the next chancellor. The result means 18 coalition MPs failed to back him Germany’s far-right AfD calls for fresh elections after Merz fails to be elected chancellor in first vote – Europe live