Provisional results confirmed that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election​, while a far-right party surged to become the nation's second-largest.

Merz’s priority will be to form a government with the third-placed Social Democrats (SPD), led by Germany’s current Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, which secured its lowest ever proportion of the vote since the Second World War (16.4 per cent).

Germany faces its second change of leader in less than four years after the head of the center-right opposition won Sunday’s election.

Friedrich Merz is on course to become post-World War II Germany’s 10th chancellor, the culmination of a yearslong political career that was once sidelined by his party’s iconic leader

The contenders in Germany's election made their final appeals to voters Saturday, with opposition leader and front-runner Friedrich Merz vowing to revive the stagnant economy and defend Europe's interests in the face of a confrontational U.