German conservatives elect Merz as leader

Updated January 23 2022 - 12:16am, first published 12:11am
Friedrich Merz received nearly 95 per cent of votes to become leader of the Christian Democrats.
Friedrich Merz received nearly 95 per cent of votes to become leader of the Christian Democrats.

Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) have elected arch-conservative Friedrich Merz as their party leader to follow the more centrist Armin Laschet, who lost September's general election to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats.

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