Germany's Merz falls short of majority in vote for chancellor

Germany's conservative leader has unexpectedly fallen short of the numbers needed to form a majority in parliament to become chancellor.

Friedrich Merz needed 316 votes in the 630-seat Bundestag but only secured 310, in a significant blow to the Christian Democrat leader, two and a half months after winning Germany's federal elections.

His coalition with the centre-left has enough seats in parliament but it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented. Merz's failure in the first vote is seen as unprecedented in modern German history.

The Bundestag will now have another 14 days to choose either Merz or another candidate as chancellor.

Under Germany's constitution, there is no limit to how many votes can be held, but ultimately if no absolute majority is reached then a candidate can be elected without one.

Merz's defeat is seen by political commentators as a humiliation, probably inflicted by members of the Social Democrat SPD, which signed a coalition deal with his conservatives on Monday.

Not everyone in the SPD is happy with the deal, but the historic nature of Merz's failure will be difficult for him to move on from. No candidate has failed in this way since 1949.