Put simply, more than four in every five of Germany's 59.2 million voters turned out. It reflects just how energised Germans have been by this election, which comes at a pivotal moment for their country. There were nine TV debates in the final stretch of the campaign, but that reflected the broad interest of the audience.

Friedrich Merz is set to become Germany’s next chancellor after his centre-Right Christian Democratic Union [CDU] party won the election on Sunday night.

Polls are open across Germany as the world’s third largest economy chooses a new leader to guide it through an era of febrile immigration debates and souring relations with Washington.