Center-right politician Friedrich Merz was elected as German chancellor Tuesday in a second vote just hours after his historic defeat in a bid to lead the country.

Mr. Merz needed two rounds of voting to become chancellor after a surprising defeat in Parliament hours earlier that threatened to hobble his new government.

In Germany, Friedrich Merz was elected as chancellor Tuesday in a second round of parliamentary voting, just hours after he failed to clinch the ballot in the first round — a first in postwar Germany.