Exit polls in Germany's elections predict a win for the conservatives while the far-right Alternative for Germany is set to record big gains.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now on course to win 20.5% of the vote, according to latest projections - but there is no way Friedrich Merz will work with it because of a long-standing political taboo against working with the far right, known as a Brandmauer - a firewall.

Friedrich Merz is on course to become post-World War II Germany’s 10th chancellor, the culmination of a yearslong political career that was once sidelined by his party’s iconic leader

Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory in Germany’s national election on Sunday after exit polls showed his bloc in the lead. Merz said he was aware of the dimension of the task he faces and said that “it will not be easy.

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.

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

The Christian Democratic Union has won a plurality in the Bundestag, preliminary exit polls suggested Sunday, while the far-right AfD has come in second.

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

Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz emerged as the winner in Sunday’s election, but the results gave his Christian Democrat-led bloc just one clear path to power and facing intense pressure to move quickly to form a government.