The conservative party’s Friedrich Merz has won the German election with 28.6% of the vote ahead of rival parties and thus called for celebration of the party wins: “Let’s celebrate tonight and in the morning we’ll get to work.”

Merz said his top priority was unity in Europe, so that “step by step, we can really achieve independence from the US”.

The other big winner in Sunday’s vote was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who are celebrating a record second-place result of 20.8%.

Merz, 69, has never held a ministerial job, but he has promised if he becomes the next German chancellor to show leadership in Europe and beef up support for Ukraine.

Friedrich Merz’s first priority will be to try to form a coalition with Scholz’s centre left, despite the Social Democrats’ worst-ever showing of 16.4%, he is keen to form a government by Easter.

The AfD under Alice Weidel enjoyed a 10-point increase in support on four years ago, their support boosted by anger over high prices and a series of deadly attacks in German cities.

As results came in during the early hours of Monday, it became clear the AfD was far ahead of the other parties in the east, with a projected 34% according to a survey for public broadcaster ZDF.

“Germans have voted for change,” said Alice Weidel. She said Friedrich Merz’s attempt to forge a coalition would ultimately end in failure: “We’ll have fresh elections – I don’t think we’ll have to wait another four years.”

President Trump did welcome Merz’s victory. He said it was proof that Germans were, like Americans, tired of “the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration”.

Merz’s victory was quickly welcomed across much of Europe. France’s Emmanuel Macron spoke of uniting at a time of uncertainty to “face the major challenges of the world and our continent”, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sought to “enhance our joint security and deliver growth for both our countries”.