Germany’s political system is set up to exclude extremists. Yet the country is waking up to a new political reality that has lurched to the right with the once outcast Alternative for Germany (AfD) party now firmly established in German politics.

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.

Outgoing German chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded the election and decried the historic gains of the far-right conservative party, AfD. Early exit polls show AfD is headed for second place, while opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives are in the lead and Scholz’s party fell to third.