Germany was on course last night for its first centre-right government in 11 years after voters gave chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and her Free Democratic allies a majority in parliament.
The victory of the conservative-liberal alliance, which had campaigned for tax cuts, a return to nuclear energy, but also social justice and tougher rules for finance, ends four years of awkward co-operation between the CDU and its rival Social Democratic Party in a grand coalition.
“We achieved something fantastic,” said Ms Merkel, now facing a second four-year term. “We achieved a stable majority in Germany for a new government . . . We can party tonight but there is a lot of work waiting for us.”