Germany's conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) plan to continue exploratory talks next week aimed at forming a new government coalition, after an initial round of discussions on Friday, five days after parliamentary elections.

With 16.4% of the vote, down nine points from 2021, the SPD recorded its worst score since the post-war period. It is likely to join a coalition in the next government, led by the Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz.

Senior figures from Germany's conservatives and the Social Democrats will begin exploratory talks on forming a coalition government on Friday, sources at the parties told Reuters.

Germany's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats plan to start exploratory talks this week on forming a governing coalition following Sunday's federal elections. The first discussion is planned for Friday,

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Wednesday elected Lars Klingbeil as leader of its parliamentary group, cementing his position as the party seeks to recover from a historic election defeat to join Friedrich Merz's conservatives in government.

Germany's conservatives, who won elections last weekend, are set to start exploratory talks with the Social Democrats on Friday towards forming a coalition government, party sources said. - Grand coalition - The make-up of the incoming Bundestag leaves a coalition between the conservatives and the Social Democrats as the only politically feasible option to form a government.