Friedrich Merz and his party won, Elon Musk didn’t seem to move voters, and more lessons from an early German vote with big implications for Europe.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz won a lackluster victory, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded his center-left Social Democrat party’s worst postwar defeat.

Congratulatory messages and reactions have begun to trickle in as Friedrich Merz and the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CSU) alliance coast to victory in the German election held on Sunday.

AfD set for strongest result ever while incumbent chancellor’s SPD on track for worst-ever outcome in fourth snap election in country’s history

Centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc emerged as the frontrunner in Germany’s national election on Sunday, though without a decisive victory, according to exit polls by ARD and ZDF public television.