GETTY Angela Merkel is expect to win a fourth term as German Chancellor

FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

In one conducted by polling institute infratest-dimap, in conjunction with German public broadcaster ARD, Mrs Merkel scored her highest approval rating since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2015. A mammoth 64 per cent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with the way she carries out her job, making her the most popular politician in the country.

Gains made by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) partly in local elections over the past 18 months do not seem to be translating into real power on the national stage. And former EU parliament chief Martin Schulz has been unable to galvanise the opposition centre-left SPD party in any meaningful way.

GETTY Two new polls claim the German leader will successfully defend her job against rival Martin Schulz

The survey, which saw 1,500 people take part, also asked Germans who they would choose if they could vote now. Nearly 40 per cent said they would vote for Merkel's conservative CDU or its Bavarian sister party the CSU - more than 15 percentage points ahead of the SPD. Another poll commissioned by the Bild newspaper group published Sunday showed her with 39 percent of the vote locked up and the SPD with just 25 per cent.

Vladimir Putin eagerly awaits Angela-Merkel in Russia Tue, May 2, 2017 Angela Merkel is having a one-day visit to Russia Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 7 Russian President Vladimir Putin at Bocharov ruchey state residence at Black Sea resort on May, 2, 2017, Sochi, Russia

GETTY A huge 64 per cent of those surveyed are pleased with the job Mrs Merkel is doing