Friedrich Merz, designated federal chancellor (CDU), is represented when signing the coalition agreement between the SPD, the CDU and the CSU on May 05, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty images
Friedrich Merz was not elected German Chancellor on Tuesday, after failing the majority of a parliamentary vote in the first round.
Merz needed at least 316 votes to become a chancellor and only 310 deputies voted in his favor. Bundestag Germany has 630 members.
The result marks an unforeseen setback for Merz which was to obtain the necessary votes largely and be officially sworn later in the day.
After the announcement of the vote, the parliamentary session was interrupted to allow a discussion on the following stages. German Dax The stock market index has extended negotiation losses of approximately 1.4% less than 10:07 a.m. London time.
A second vote must take place within 14 days, according to the German Constitution, with an absolute majority necessary again. There are also protocols in place in the event that the second vote does not manage to elect a chancellor.
The Social Democratic Union of Merz, alongside its sister party The Christian Social Union, won the largest share of votes in the German elections in February. They had to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party. Coalition governments are common in Germany where it is very rare for an absolute majority of more than 50% during an election.
The parties signed their coalition agreement on Monday, entitled “Responsibility of Germany”, after weeks of negotiations which started shortly after the German elections in February.
Who is Friedrich Merz?
Merz, 69, has been shooting for the first job for German politics for a long time. He joined the CDU when he was still at school, finally leading the local branch of the party’s youth organization. In 1989, he became a member of the European Parliament, before later joining the Bundestag in Germany.
A large part of Merz’s political career in the early 2000s was marked by a rivalry with the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel while the two were in competition for leadership roles in the CDU itself and within the CDU-CSU parliamentary group. Merz became president, then assistant, of the latter before finally resigning the role in 2004 – the observers of the time linked this to Merkel in the ranks.
Before his stay in politics, Merz studied law, initially working as a judge, then as a lawyer at Mayer Brown LLP. He also held management positions in companies such as Blackrock Germany and HSBC Trinkaus and Burkhardt.
