Germany's mainstream conservatives won the country's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest party, according to provisional results following Sunday’s election.

The centre-right CDU has emerged as the biggest party in the German election, making Merz the most likely to lead a government, following coalition negotiations.

Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s CDU, is set to form a coalition after winning the most votes, per exit polls. The election saw Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) suffer a historic defeat and AfD make record gains.