Germany’s Merz falls short of votes needed to be chancellor in unprecedented shock first ballot – Europe live

Embarrassing setback for Merz – snap analysis

Jakub Krupa

The result will be hugely embarrassing setback for Merz.

His CDU/CSU/SPD coalition nominally has 328 votes in the Bundestag – but he got only 310; 18 less than you would expect him to get, and, crucially, six short of the majority required to confirm him as the next chancellor. The joys of secret ballot.

As German media note, this has never happened before in the history of the federal republic.

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And if you’re wondering who is happy with this turn of events, here’s the reaction of Alternative für Deutschland’s leader Alice Weidel.

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In a social media post, she said the result of the vote “demonstrates the weak foundation” on which the coalition is built.

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Her party has been benefiting from the frustratingly long government formation process – topping some of the polls – and will surely seek to capitalise on today’s events even further.

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co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel smiles in reaction to the result of the first round of vote at a session at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) where the parliament is to elect the Germany’s next Chancellor in Berlin,”,”caption”:”The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel smiles in reaction to the result of the first round of vote at a session at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) where the parliament is to elect the Germany’s next Chancellor in Berlin,”,”credit”:”Photograph: Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1746520310000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.31 CEST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1746521041000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”10.44 CEST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1746520780000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.39 CEST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.39″,”title”:”Will they push for another vote today? – snap analysis”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Jakub Krupa”,”imageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2025/01/22/Jakub_Krupa.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=41cc9981ec7b067e2d3b5391c5a68a4f”,”largeImageUrl”:”https://usercontent.one/wp/www.newscabal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Germanys-Merz-falls-short-of-votes-needed-to-be-chancellor.png”}],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 6 May 2025 10.49 CEST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 6 May 2025 08.58 CEST”},{“id”:”6819c6718f088a65239d2a28″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Here’s a procedural explanation on what’s next, via the Bundestag’s website:

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To be elected, the candidate must secure the votes of an absolute majority of the Members of the Bundestag, that is half of the Members plus at least one additional vote. This is sometimes called the “chancellor majority”.

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If the candidate fails to secure an absolute majority in the first round of voting, a second round is held. The Bundestag then has 14 days to elect another candidate to be Chancellor. There is no limit to the number of possible ballots, although an absolute majority is always required (Article 63.3 of the Basic Law).

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If this second round of voting also fails to produce a result, the election process enters a third phase in which a new election must take place immediately. The person who receives the largest number of votes (relative majority) is then elected to be Chancellor.

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Where the Chancellor-elect secures an absolute majority, that is the votes of the majority of the Members of the Bundestag, the Federal President must appoint the Chancellor within seven days of the election. If the Chancellor-elect receives only a relative majority, i.e. the most votes, the Federal President must either appoint the Chancellor within seven days or must dissolve the Bundestag (Article 63.4 of the Basic Law).

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Merz reacts after he was not elected new Chancellor in the first voting process at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin.”,”caption”:”Friedrich Merz reacts after he was not elected new Chancellor in the first voting process at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1746519665000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.21 CEST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1746519800000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”10.23 CEST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1746519801000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.23 CEST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.23″,”title”:”What’s next? – procedural explainer”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 6 May 2025 10.49 CEST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 6 May 2025 08.58 CEST”},{“id”:”6819c51f8f08171b1691e406″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The result will be hugely embarrassing setback for Merz.

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His CDU/CSU/SPD coalition nominally has 328 votes in the Bundestag – but he got only 310; 18 less than you would expect him to get, and, crucially, six short of the majority required to confirm him as the next chancellor. The joys of secret ballot.

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As German media note, this has never happened before in the history of the federal republic.

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Friedrich Merz has failed to get enough votes to become chancellor in the first vote.

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310 votes in favour. He needed 316.

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Wow.

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The session gets adjourned so political groups can consult on next steps.

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German Finance Minister and vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil (C) casts his ballot as MPs vote to elect Germany’s next Chancellor during a session at the Bundestag.”,”caption”:”Designated German Finance Minister and vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil (C) casts his ballot as MPs vote to elect Germany’s next Chancellor during a session at the Bundestag.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1746518621000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.03 CEST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1746519007000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”10.10 CEST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1746518705000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.05 CEST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.05″,”title”:”Bundestag votes on Merz – in pictures”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 6 May 2025 10.49 CEST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 6 May 2025 08.58 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If you’re wondering why, oh, why is it all taking so much time, it’s because it’s a secret ballot, with all parliamentarians going out of the main chamber to the lobby to physically cast their vote.

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The meeting has just been adjourned for 20-25 minutes as they count the votes.

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No prizes for guessing how Merz voted.

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Merz casts his vote during the election of a new Chancellor at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin.”,”caption”:”Friedrich Merz casts his vote during the election of a new Chancellor at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1746517200000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”09.40 CEST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1746517300000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”09.41 CEST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1746517300000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”09.41 CEST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”09.41″,”title”:”Vote count under way”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 6 May 2025 10.49 CEST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 6 May 2025 08.58 CEST”},{“id”:”6819b7f38f08171b1691e3ac”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

If, as we expect, Merz gets elected in the first round of voting, the Bundestag session will be adjourned, and he will travel to see the country’s president Frank-Walter Steinmeier to get a certificate of his appointment.

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outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz and designated chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) react on the day of a session of the German lower house of parliament Bundestag, to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin, Germany.”,”caption”:”Germany’s outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz and designated chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) react on the day of a session of the German lower house of parliament Bundestag, to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin, Germany.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

He will then come back to the Bundestag to take the oath of office, and later formally confirm his ministerial appointments (both with the president and the parliament).

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The formal takeover process is expected to be completed at 3pm.

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But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

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The voting continues.

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And after some formal words of welcome, the vote on Friedrich Merz’s chancellorship is now under way.

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316 votes are required, and it should be a formality given the CDU/CSU/SPD coalition has 328 MPs.

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of a new German Chancellor, in Berlin.”,”caption”:”Election of a new German Chancellor, in Berlin.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel is there too.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel waves at the start of a session at the Bundestag.”,”caption”:”Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel waves at the start of a session at the Bundestag.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1746515268000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”09.07 CEST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1746515875000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”09.17 CEST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1746515784000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”09.16 CEST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”09.16″,”title”:”Vote to elect Merz as new German chancellor under way”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 6 May 2025 10.49 CEST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 6 May 2025 08.58 CEST”},{“id”:”6819aea68f088a65239d299a”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Some 70 days after winning the parliamentary election in February, CDU/CSU leader Friedrich Merz will finally become the new German chancellor today, taking over from embattled Olaf Scholz.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of CDU carries documents, ahead of a Bundestag CDU/CSU fraction meeting, where a new chair will be elected, in Berlin, Germany.”,”caption”:”Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of CDU carries documents, ahead of a Bundestag CDU/CSU fraction meeting, where a new chair will be elected, in Berlin, Germany.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Liesa Johannssen/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Last night, Scholz was given a formal send-off party – probably best described by the Economist’s Tom Nuttall as “think military parade crossed with Desert Island Discs and you’re halfway there” – leaving the office to the sounds of Bach, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and the Beatles’ “In My Life.”

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There will be time and place to properly sum up his term, acknowledging that whatever plans he may have had got quickly derailed by Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three months into his chancellorship.

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But today the focus will be on what’s next with a number of extremely urgent tasks facing the new chancellor, not just in international politics or the economy, but with the broader crisis of people’s trust that things work as they should.

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In his farewell speech, summing up his three years holding the highest office in the country, Scholz said:

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“Only if you (the German citizen) have confidence in democracy and its representatives can this democracy succeed. Earning this trust has always been the driving force behind my political commitment.”

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves after his military tattoo ceremony hosted by the Bundeswehr in honour of his service.”,”caption”:”Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves after his military tattoo ceremony hosted by the Bundeswehr in honour of his service.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Merz will need to figure out – and figure out fast – how to keep that democratic confidence alive at a time when the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, the main opposition party now formally designated as an extremist force, comes top in some of the public opinion polls.

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The Bundestag will sit from 9am Berlin time (8am London) to formally appoint the new chancellor, and later to confirm the members of his government, with media rumours that the first cabinet meeting will take place this evening, ahead of Merz’s expected trips to Paris and Warsaw tomorrow.

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We will bring you all the latest.

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It’s Tuesday, 6 May 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

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Good morning.

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Key events