Germany's conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz expects little to pass parliament ahead of early elections in February, dousing hopes from ministers to pass economic reforms in the coming weeks.

Friedrich Merz has long been a beacon of hope for the conservative Christian Democrats. He now wants to unseat Chancellor Olaf Scholz and take over as Germany's leader.

Born in 1955 in the west German town of Brilon, Merz studied law and was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994. After leaving politics he worked as a corporate lawyer at Mayer Brown, and served as chair of BlackRock Germany’s supervisory board between 2016 and 2020, becoming a millionaire in the process.