Friedrich Merz succeeded in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round.

Friedrich Merz was poised to be sworn in as chancellor but did not win enough votes in parliament, usually a symbolic step.

Friedrich Merz's unprecedented first-round failure in the vote to make him German chancellor on Tuesday gave a boost to the far-right AfD, which just days ago was reeling from being officially labelled an extremist threat to democracy.