German election latest: Conservative Merz predicted to win and far ...

Nick BeakeReporting from AfD headquarters in Berlin

Exit polls invariably bring clear cut moments of triumph or despair.

Tonight, at the AfD headquarters the mood seemed, to me at least, somewhat restrained initially even as the prediction appeared on the big screen that it was on course to become Germany’s second biggest party.

Many here hoped they were riding the crest of a popular wave and the projection would have been even higher. But as the night has worn on and as serious dents have been made in the buffet and fizz on offer, party officials and supporters have become more buoyant.

They were boosted by the appearance of their candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, who told them Germany was being robbed of the chance to see a government featuring the policies of the AfD. She did a victory lap of supporters.

If their glasses were in danger of becoming empty, the far-right French politician Éric Zemmour suddenly popped up and presented her with a bottle of French champagne.

Tonight, Weidel is the toast of the far-right across Europe. For the centre, she is the face of a dangerous and divisive populism that’s on the march and gaining ground.