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In another hammer blow to the Chancellor’s hopes of getting re-elected a majority of voters surveyed said they want to see a new leader in place before the end of the year. According to a poll carried out by YouGov an overwhelming 64 per cent of Germans think it is time for a fresh face at the helm in Berlin, boosting the campaign of her rival Martin Schulz

GETTY Two-thirds of Germans want Angela Merkel to go, according to a new poll

And fewer than one in ten voters strongly believe that Mrs Merkel should lead the country forward for the next four years, underlining an alarming slump in her popularity. The dynamite result follows a slew of dire opinion surveys for the embattled leader which have shown former eurocrat Mr Schulz making massive inroads into her fragile lead.

GETTY Former eurocrat Martin Schulz is hunting her down in the polls

GETTY Mrs Merkel's controversial immigration policies have divided Germany

It raises the previously unthinkable prospect that Mrs Merkel, for so long seen as bulletproof, could be on course for a humbling defeat in this autumn’s general election. Her reputation has been badly battered by her controversial open door asylum policy, which divided voters and let to a surge in support for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland. And the results of the recent YouGov survey, published yesterday, will make grim reading for the Chancellor and her allies as she plots her re-election campaign.

Overall 42 per cent of voters quizzed said it was “definitely” time for their leader to stand aside for someone else, whilst a further 22 per cent said it was “probably” better if she went. That compared with a dismal eight per cent who said Mrs Merkel should “definitely” stay in post and only 19 per cent who said they would “probably” back her for a fourth term in office. Most worryingly of all for the embattled Berlin chief, an astonishing 42 per cent of Christian Democrat (CDU) voters said it was time for their party leader to hang up her boots. The survey was just the latest in a long line of less than encouraging recent polls for the Chancellor which have shown how Mr Schulz has almost entirely eaten up her once comfortable lead.

'MERKEL MUST GO': Brussels protest against German Chancellor Tue, February 14, 2017 Angry campaigners held placards with slogans reading 'Merkel not welcomed' and 'Merkel must go' following a spate of terror attacks against Germany. Play slideshow EPA 1 of 11 Protest on the sidelines of Angela Merkel's official visit in Brussels