Merkel Claims Victory in Germany

German election exit polls are showing that reigning Chancellor Angela Merkel is headed for a second term, with her conservative bloc collecting more than a third of the national vote.

The BBC:

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been returned to power in Germany, exit polls suggest, after her conservative bloc won more than 33% of the vote.

Mrs Merkel told supporters they had achieved “something magnificent”, but said she wanted to be a chancellor of all Germans at a moment of crisis.

Mrs Merkel’s bloc now looks set to form a centre-right alliance with her preferred partner, the pro-reform FDP.

Her rival, SPD leader Frank Walter Steinmeier, admitted a “bitter defeat”.

He said his party would be “vigilant in opposition”.

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Angela Merkel at a campaign rally earlier this month.