Friedrich Merz’s bid to become Germany‘s 10th chancellor has shockingly failed in the first round of voting in parliament by six votes.
Merz, the conservative leader, was expected to win the vote on Tuesday.
But for the first time of in the Federal Republic’s history, the candidate to become Chancellor fell at the first hurdle.
He needed a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, but only received 310.
His family left the public gallery immediately after the decision.
The lower house of parliament – called the Bundestag – now has 14 days to elect a candidate with an absolute majority, according to German law.
If that also fails, the constitution allows for the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes as chancellor, or to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election.
The result represents a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, who won Germany’s Federal Elections in February.
His party signed a coalition deal with the centre-left SPD yesterday, with 328 seats between the two parties indicating that Merz had enough support to win today’s vote.
But it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented, leading to a humiliating defeat for the conservative leader.
The parliamentary vote is a secret ballot, meaning the votes of individual lawmakers will never be revealed.
Merz’s team could push for a second vote later today.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…
