Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has been elected chancellor by Germany’s parliament in a second round of voting after his new alliance with the centre-left Social Democrats was dealt a surprise defeat in the first attempt.

Merz’s failure to win parliamentary backing in the first round of voting was a first for post-war Germany.

Merz received 325 votes in the second round of voting on Tuesday.

He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot but only received 310 votes in the first round – well short of the 328 seats held by his coalition.

Merz’s conservative alliance of CDU and Christian Social Union (CSU) had topped the polls in the national elections in February with 28.5 percent of the vote, but it still required at least one coalition partner to form a majority government.

On Monday, the CDU/CSU reached an agreement with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which secured 16.4 percent in the elections after the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government last year.

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Their agreement has mapped out plans to revive growth, such as reducing corporate taxes and lowering energy prices. It is also promising strong support for Ukraine as it battles to repel Russia’s invasion, and higher military spending.

The new chancellor’s in-tray would also include the Trump administration’s confrontational trade policy and domestic issues, such as the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant party.

Germany, the most populous member state of the 27-nation European Union, has the continent’s biggest economy and serves as a diplomatic heavyweight.

More to come…