German chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats (SPD) after what he called “a bitter election result” on Sunday, writes The Telegraph.

Exit polls showed his party finishing in third place, taking just 16 per cent of the votes, with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election. The centre-Right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party took the lead, projected to win 29 per cent of the vote, after a campaign dominated by economic stagnation, migration pressures and growing uncertainty over how best to secure the future of Ukraine.

The far-Right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which had high-profile backers including Elon Musk, surged to second place with 19.5 per cent. It marks the strongest result for a far-Right party since the Second World War.

The German defence minister, Boris Pistoriu, described the result as “devastating, catastrophic,” while foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said that democratic parties must now act in unison. “I am responsible for this election result,” Mr Scholz said, adding that “we must never work with the far-Right”.

A foreign diplomat observing the CDU celebration party said that, although the drinks were flowing, the atmosphere was somewhat muted. Party members had expected to do better, giving them a stronger hand in the coalition negotiations and a stronger mandate. Now they face an alliance with the SPD, who will exact a heavy price for their cooperation on difficult issues such as pension reform and the economy, the envoy said. The most likely coalition will be a CDU-led government backed by the SPD and potentially the Greens. Mr Scholz will remain in office while coalition negotiations are conducted, which is expected to take until Easter.