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Social Democrats (SPD) leader and Brexit opponent Mr Schulz, 61, who resigned from his EU presidency last month after earning more than £1million from the taxpayer in five years, is on target to win in the forthcoming elections, according to a new poll. And 62-year-old Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic party (CDU), which has just ratified a law banning refugee families as well as a raft of immigration laws, will be more than decimated by the far-right. Mr Schulz leads the SPD, which holds a minority share in Mrs Merkel's 'grand coalition'.

GETTY Mrs Merkel is set to lose the elections as Martin Schulz leads her in the polls

GETTY Mr Schulz was spotted eating chips and mayo as he campaigned in Saarlouis, Germany

If there is a conservative majority together with the AfD, we should form a coalition with them CDU MEP Hermann Winkler

The SPD has been trailing the conservatives for years in opinion polls and last won an election under Gerhard Schroeder in 2002. A poll commissioned by National newspaper Bild shows that Mrs Merkel is fast losing support after announcing her candidacy for the CDU in December. The poll by INSA for Bild newspaper put the SPD on 31 per cent, and the conservatives on 30 per cent.

GETTY Mr Schulz has been on the campaign trail as he gets ready to dethrone Merkel

The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was projected third with 12 per cent, followed by the hard-left Die Linke on 10 per cent. Mrs Merkel's approval ratings have collapsed after The Federal Ministry of Finance revealed taxpayers will be spending £37billion (€43billion) for 2016 and 2017 migrant budget to “meet the challenges of the nation-state” last week. Bundestag politicians have instigated an ‘Asylum Procedures Acceleration Act’ in a bid to speed up the process of deportation.

GETTY Mr Schulz has 'Obama-like' status in his own party

The German parliament has banned family reunion for two years, meaning battles to bring relatives, as currently happens in Britain, will no longer take place. Now, despite swift action and even a call to ban the burka, Mrs Merkel is in a race against time to turn around public opinion. Large scale sex attacks, terror sprees and horrific crimes, which have broken out all over Germany, have led to protests on the streets.

GETTY Angela Merkel gives her coalition partner and CSU leader Horst Seehofer a special look

Another pollster Emnid's also believes Mrs Merkel is on the way out. The firm's Torsten Schneider-Haase told Bild: "Martin Schulz is managing above all to win back former SPD voters and to appeal to them emotionally. "Such a strong shift in party preferences within a week is a one-off." In October, Mrs Merkel's own party called for her to form a new alliance with the surging AfD which was only founded in April 2013.

'Merkel must go!' Protest in Dresden as Merkel arrives to celebrate German Unity Day Mon, October 3, 2016 Protesters jeered at German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she attended celebrations in Dresden to mark 26 years since Germany's reunification called German Unity Day. Play slideshow 1 of 14