After tens of millions of Germans cast their ballots in today's federal election — or some 84% of the country's nearly 60 million eligible voters — the latest exit polls suggest that the CDU/CSU are in the lead to govern with around 28.

The 69-year-old head of the centre-right Union bloc, which won the country's national election with 28.6 per cent of the votes, has by far the best chance of forming a new government.