BRITONS like their politics colourful, noisy and in English. So the dry, worthy exchanges that pass for political debate in Berlin rarely arouse interest across the North Sea. But as Germany prepares to go to the polls on September 22nd, British political leaders are unusually attentive—and opinionated.

Not surprisingly, David Cameron and his Conservative circle are fans of Angela Merkel, the incumbent German chancellor. The relationship started badly. In 2009 Mr Cameron extracted the Tories from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, which was too federalist for his liking. Mrs Merkel, whose party dominates the EPP, was incandescent. The two remained distant for a while—the chancellor preferred to work with Germany’s closest ally, France.

But recently a friendship has blossomed, say diplomats and advisers. At the Foreign Office and in Tory circles, Mrs Merkel is seen as a tough pragmatist who lacks the sentimental Francophilia of her predecessors. In February this year she worked with Mr Cameron to block an EU budget proposal by France, Spain and Italy. Soon afterwards she invited the prime minister and his family to stay at her country residence—reciprocating her stay at the prime minister’s retreat, where the pair reportedly kicked back and watched her favourite British murder-mystery series.

Mrs Merkel does not go out of her way to help the prime minister. In discussions over EU economic integration in 2011 she bypassed Mr Cameron’s objections. Of 27 leaders, he was alone in vetoing the final plan. But she is willing to co-operate with Britain when it suits her—and that is something. Though France remains Germany’s first love, the election to the French presidency of a spendthrift socialist, François Hollande, has dampened its ardour—and increased thrifty Britain’s appeal.

In January Mr Cameron tested this by announcing a plan to renegotiate his country’s place in the EU and put the new arrangement to a vote by 2017. Though some in Berlin were horrified, Mrs Merkel’s response was restrained. She has indicated that she may help the prime minister obtain some symbolic victories, which would help swing the vote in favour of EU membership—just as Helmut Schmidt, one of her predecessors, did when Harold Wilson needed to win a similar referendum in 1975. Germany is expected to smile on Britain’s bid to apply EU justice and home-affairs rules selectively, for example.

The contrast with Peer Steinbrück, her centre-left opponent, only increases Mrs Merkel’s appeal. He is openly contemptuous of Mr Cameron’s scheme. In a statement echoing Mr Hollande, in February he accused the prime minister of seeking “à la carte” EU membership. Then, in the aftermath of the budget negotiations, he attacked Mrs Merkel for forging an “unholy alliance” with a country that did not envisage a future in the union (ie, Britain). Most expect him to sing a similar tune if elected. The German embassy in London, until recently close to a fief of his Social Democratic Party, criticised Mr Cameron’s plan—a foretaste of a Steinbrück government, mutter some in Whitehall.