Germany election LIVE: AfD sends chilling warning to Merz

Germany’s ruling left-leaning party has lost more than a third of its seats, in a bruising election loss that has beat it into first place.

Meanwhile, the country’s conservative parties have won 80 more seats in parliament. However, with the ascendant CDU-CSU unlikely to form a coalition with the far-right AfD, lengthy coalition talks are now likely.

With only five parties meeting the vote threshold to enter parliament, the next Bundestag will have the following make-up:

CDU/CSU: 208 (+11)

AfD: 152 (+69)

SPD: 120 (-86)

Greens: 85 (-33)

The Left/Die Linke: 64 (+25)

Germany’s ruling SDP has been wiped from power, in a landslide result for the country’s right wing parties, according to the final results.

The two biggest winners of the night were the centre-right CDU/CSU and the far-right AfD, amassing a stunning 49.4 percent of the vote between them.

The provisional results across Germany’s 299 constituencies are:

CDU/CSU: 28.6 percent

AfD: 20.8 percent

SPD: 16.4 percent

Greens: 11.6 percent

The Left (Die Linke): 8.8 per cent

BSW: 4.97 percent

FDP: 4.3 percent

Other: 4.6 percent

Parties must gain at least five per cent of the vote to enter the Bundestag, meaning the five successful parties will be allotted seats on a proportional basis.

The five states that used to comprise communist East Germany were all taken by the AfD in a clean sweep on Sunday.

The controversial party easily grabbed more than 30 per cent of the vote in each of the former Soviet puppet’s states: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia.

The election saw growing divides among the electorate. For example, across Germany, the AfD would have won if only people aged 35-44 had come out to vote, with the party beating the CDU/CSU into second place.

Election exit polls indicate that Germany’s electorate turned out in numbers not seen since reunification in 1990.

Around 83 per cent of the adult German population voted in yesterday’s election, which saw the AfD surge in the poll.

In comparison, last year’s UK General Election had a turnout of just 60 per cent.

While the AfD gained second place, with one in five votes going to the far-right party, left-wing parties generally saw a drop in support.

The AfD even became the most-supported group among 25-34s, traditionally a more liberal voter base. However, this gain in support was not uniform, with left party Die Linke winning 25 per cent of voters aged 18-25.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer offered a short congratulatory message to Germany’s likely next leader following the election outcome.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister, keeping well within the character limit, said: “Congratulations to Friedrich Merz and the CDU/CSU for the results in Germany’s election.

“I look forward to working with the new government to deepen our already strong relationship, enhance our joint security and deliver growth for both our countries.”

Germany has remained one of Israel’s closest allies following the war in Gaza, cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests and backing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handling of the situation following the October 7 attacks.

Netanyahu congratulated Merz’s conservatives on their victory, calling on the likely next German leader to ‘strengthen’ the ties between the two countries.

Merz wants to have formed a government by Easter, adding “Europe expects us to have a strong government very soon”.

Earlier today the Conservative leader confirmed he ideally wants one coalition partner. He repeated that he would not go into coalition with the far-right party AfD, before saying we need to wait for the full results.

As part of Friedrich Merz’s campaign, he promised border controls and asylum rules to restrict immigration, cut taxes, and reduced welfare spending to rebuild Germany’s economy.

Latest projections from public broadcasters suggest Merz’s Conservative party will achieve 28.5 percent of the vote share, just short of its predicted 30 percent. 

The far right party AfD however looks on course to acheive 20.6 percent.

Friedrich Merz has told a TV debate panel that his top priority is to “strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can be independent of the United States of America” on defence.

“I would’ve never thought I would need to say something like this on television, but after Donald Trump’s statements last week it’s clear: this American government doesn’t care for Europe.”

Merz also said Elon Musk has “interfered” in the German election, calling it “drastic and shameful – similar to what we’ve heard from Moscow in the past”.

Trump hailed today a “great day” for Germany, posting on Truth Social.

The US President said the people of Germany had “got tired of a no common sense agenda”. 

Alice Weidel, the AfD’s choice for Chancellor, has warned her CDU counterpart that her party is posied to overtake them as the largest one in Germany.

She  told Freidrich Merz that if his party betrays its manifesto commitments and joins ranks with the left, then the next election wil come quicker than expected.

She added: “We will overtake the CDU as the largest party.”

Germany’s ARD TV channel has pedicted the AfD will get 145 seats for its vote share in today’s election.

That will make it the second largest party in the Bundestag, behind Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats, who are slated to get 210 seats.

Scholz’s Social Democrats are predicted to get 94 seats, while The Left will receive 62.

Speaking to supporters in Berlin, Scholz addressed the exit poll suggestion that the AfD party will take nearly 20% of the vote. 

“Now we have the far-right – the AfD – and the fact they got such a good election result is something we cannot accept and I will never accept,” the Social Democrats (SPD) leader said. 

“We need to stick to what we have always said, we mustn’t work with the far-right.”

He also said he hopes other political parties will keep that promise.

Olaf Scholz has conceded defeat in Germany’s election and congratulated his conservative oppoent Friedrich Merz on his victory.

The Social Democratic leader accepted he was to blame for the party’s poor performace and said the election results were “bitter” for his party.

Exit polls show the SPD trailing in third, with 16-16.5% of the vote.

Friedrich Merz hailed his “historic win” but acknowledged he faced a diffcult task ahead to transform the country’s economic and social forunes.

However, he insisted he was confident of being able “to create a government capable of acting in Germany’s interest” soon.

“Everybody in the world sees that Germany has a reliable and trustworthy government,” he said, adding that “now we can also actually party here”.

“Tonight we will be celebrating and as of tomorrow we will be resuming our work.”

The Christian Democrats are set for about 211 seats in parliament according to the ARD channel.

If these numbers are borne out then they might be able form a coalition with the Social Democrats , despite their lacklustre performance.

There are 630 seats up for grabs in the parliament – the Bundestag.

AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla says his party has received a mandate from voters “to bring about political change”.

Standing alongside Alice Weidel, he told jubliant supporters gathered at party HQ: “We can really bring about a epochal change, we are always open to negotiations”.

He added: “We have received the confidence of the voters and that should be something everybody else accepts as well.”

At around 5.30pm seat projections for each party should be released based on the first counts of votes cast.

These may be a bit different from the exit polls, because the exit polls don’t take into account postal voting.

The projections do and they will improve as they update during the evening.

Official results are expected early on Monday and coalition talks are likely to start soon after.

A poll released by Germany#s ZDF TV channel shows similar results to the one released by ARD

CDU – CSU – 28.5% AFD -20% SPD – 16.5% Greens -12% Die Linke – 9% FDP – 5% BSW – 5%

The Greens came fourth with 13.5%, while Die Linke (The Left) received 8.5%,coming ahead of the Free Femocrats who got just 4.9% share of the vote.

The CDU/CSU have won the german elections, securing 29% of thre vote, according to an exit poll from ARD.

The AfD came second with 19.5% of the vote share. with Scholz’s SDP in thrid on 16%

Germany’s polls have closed, bringing to end the 2025 elections.

Exit polls will be released shortly, indicating which parties have secured the most votes and seats in the new parliament.

Jubilant AfD supporters were photographed arriving at their party HQ in Berlin.

Their party is expected to make a major breakthrough in the election, securing its highest ever share of the vote.

Smiling supporters of Germany’s CDU party are arriving at their party HQ in Berlin in anticipation of celebrating victoiry in today’s election.

Polls have persisitently shown the party to be on its way to victory.

The only question remaining is how many other parties it will need to form a ruling coalition

Voters in a district on the north east fringes of Berlin say immigration and the economy are the concerns that worry them the most.

Hohenschönhausen is a key target for the AfD, who topped polls in the Euroepan elections last year.

One woman, Cyndi, told the BBC that too many immigrants had moved into the area and she was voting AfD because of that and cuts she had received to her welfare benefits.

Another woman, Barbara, was more concerned about the economy and the minimum wage. As for the Afd: “They’re too right-wing and racist.”

Alice Weidel, the AfD’s party leader, has published a video in which she urges voters to “observe” the counting of ballots and to “protect democracy”.

Her message had an echo of other populist leaders in Europe and of Donald Trump in America – casting some element of doubt over the sanctity of the democratic process. 

A German voter has vented her frustration at the lack of suitable candiadtes to vote for in the current elections – a sentiment many Western voters may share.

Polla Garmiany wrote: “I just came back from voting. You have two votes in German elections.

“I voted for a party that I can’t stand and for another party that I can’t stand. Just to prevent a third party that I can’t stand.

“There’s really no good option in Germany currently.”

The Social Democrat’s leader and his main rival Friedrich Merz rom the Christian Democrats were photographed casting their ballots on Sunday.

All around the country, Germans went to the polls to elect their new government, with voter turnout reported to be high.

Elon Musk has urged Germans to go out and vote for the AfD in a post to his X social media channel.

The Telsa boss has become a cheerleader for far-right political parties in Europe.

In a post on Sunday, he reposted a message urging Germans to support the AfD, adding his own comment “Yes” in a sign of his approval for the tweet.

The feminist group FEMEN organised a topless protest against the AfD outside the German Embassy in Kyiv on Sunday.

A half-naked activist wore a fake beard as well as sporting an Adolf Hitelr-styled haircut.

She wore traditional German Lederhosen and had a red Nazi band painted on her arm.

The words ‘Heil Weidel’ and ‘Weidel Putin sl**’ were written on the woman’s chest and back.

Voter turnout is several German states is already higher than it was four years ago, according to latest figures.

In Thuringia, 44.5% of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 12pm. In 2021, only 24,6% had.

Thuringia is a stronghold for the AfD who came first in state elections last years. The party’s chairman is Björn Höcke.

In Berlin, 33% had already voted by midday, up from 25.4% in 2021.

Police were called to a polling station in Berlin’s Steglitz-Zehlendorf, after an AfD supporter broke electoral rules.

The voter was wearing a T-shirt adevrtising the AfD, which is against German laws.

Officials asked people to vacate the station after calling police, Tim Richter  – a CDU city councillor – told the German tabloid

A Berlin exit poll by the German TV station ARD released at 12pm local time puts the conservative CDU/CSU bloc on 31% and the AfD in second place with 22%.

Scholz’s Social Democrats lag behind in theird place with 15% and the Green on 14%.

The Free Democrats (FDP/the Liberals) are on 4.86%, below the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament.

New data shows German voters are torn over comments regarding free speech by .

At the Munich Security Conference last week, Mr Vance delivered a provocative speech that criticised European governments for allegedly censoring free speech, interfering in elections and over-regulating new technologies.

A new poll carried out by the Democracy Institute for the Daily Express suggests the majority of , who will cast their vote this weekend for ’s , disagree with Mr Vance’s comments.

As they pass bowls of sauerkraut or crispy potatoes across the dinner table the Storch family doesn’t mention politics.

Holding back thoughts and feelings comes a little easier for people living on the edge of the Baltic Sea in East Germany. Many in this region lived through the Communist era when there was a constant fear of being spied on by the Stasi.

But the current silence on politics is not because people are scared about who is listening; it is because they are worried about what they might say to each other.

The family is divided, some are keen supporters of Far Right party  [AfD] others are vehemently opposed.

Latest polls suggest the  (AfD) is expected to perform well in the upcoming .

The controversial anti-immigration far-right party is a cause for concern for some, and optimism for others.

 suggests that the party will make the largest gains among all those running in the , and finish second with 145 seats on 20% of the vote.

This would be roughly double the 10% the AfD won at the last election, and the best performance by a party to the right of the CDU/CSU in post-war Germany.

A strong and stable government in  is important for the country and , given its role with France as a motor of the bloc’s economy.

But German voters will have to wait weeks before a government is formed because of the way Germany’s electoral system is set up.

It rarely gives any party an absolute majority and opinion polls suggest none of the parties vying for votes are anywhere near one this time.

Germany has no tradition of minority governments at the national level, which means two or more parties will most likely have to form a coalition.

While the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) are expected to win the most support, coverage has focused on the spiking popularity of the far-right  (AfD) party, led by Alice Weidel.

Polls suggest that the CDU’s  will be the country’s next chancellor, with 30% of the vote, but the AfD is projected to come a close second, with 20% – double their performance at Germany’s last federal election.

Against a backdrop of global and domestic turmoil, the election’s main talking points have been controlling  and reinvigorating Germany’s ailing economy.

But what exactly is the AfD and what does its rising popularity mean for German politics? 

Polls currently suggest that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc, led by Friedrich Merz, will win the election. He is the favourite to become the next Chancellor.

Mr Merz is Chairman of the CDU – Germany’s center-right party. It was headed for 18 years, from 2000 until 2018, by .

Germans head to the polls on Sunday to choose a new government, with concerns about the economy, immigration and war on Europe very much on their minds.

The elections could prove to be a historical watershed for post-war , with the hard-right AfD poised to become the second largest party in parliament – the Bundestag.

The  is currently polling in second place on 21%, nine points behind the frontrunners – the Christian Democrats (CDU).

The hard-right party is capitalising on concerns about immigration, partly fuelled by a spate of attacks in recent months with suspects reportedly from the Middle East and Afghanistan.