Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected as the leader of Germany’s governing Christian Democrat party yesterday, leaving the protege of Angela Merkel as the German Chancellor's presumptive heir.

After winning a nailing-biting vote at a party conference in Hamburg yesterday the 56-year-old career politician known as “AKK” saw off the challenge of the millionaire lawyer Friedrich Merz to win by just 35 votes in a secret ballot of 1,001 delegates.

The narrow victory laid bare the CDU’s internal divisions after a string of poor election results following the 2015 migrant crisis, but now opens the door to a smooth transition for when Angela Merkel retires ahead of the 2021 general election.

The tight contest was the first time since 1971 that there had been any competition for the post of CDU party leader, a testament to disagreements in the party over how to handle the resurgence of the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD).