The sweat was dripping off Friedrich Merz after the frontrunner to become Germany’s next chancellor saw his bid to outflank an ascendant far right spectacularly backfire in the Bundestag.

Merz, now 69, represents a sharp rightward turn from Merkel’s centrist legacy. His campaign motto is “A Germany we can be proud of again,” but the slogan, argues Hartwig Pautz, a political scientist at the University of the West of Scotland, is set to collide with some very harsh realities.

The bill fell short of 12 votes on Friday. Twelve MPs from Merz’s parliamentary group were absent. The setback came after Merz passed a majority with AfD for a non-binding motion on migration earlier this week,