Friedrich Merz’s bid to become Germany’s next chancellor has unexpectedly failed in the first round of parliamentary voting.
Mr Merz, leader of the country’s CDU/CSU conservatives, is hoping to become the 10th chancellor since the end of the Second World War.
No candidate has failed to win on the first ballot since then.
Needing a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, he received 310 – falling short by just six votes.
He had been expected to win comfortably after securing a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
Parties will now regroup to discuss next steps. It is unclear how long that will take, but another vote could be held later on Tuesday.
Merz can run again, but others can also enter the fray.
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The lower house of parliament – the Bundestag – has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority.
There is no limit to the number of votes that can be held within the two-week period.
If that does not happen, then the German president can appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election.
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