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German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks set to storm to victory in the German election on Sunday after managing to widen her lead over Martin Schulz in recent months. Mrs Merkel is not taking anything for granted despite her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) enjoying a clear lead. "What I've heard in the last days is unbelievable ... that everything is already decided," she told a rally in Auction Hall in Hamburg. "It is not. Every vote counts!" Mr Schulz's campaign appears to have fizzled out after the short-lived ‘Schulz effect’ boosted the hopes of the Social Democrats (SPD) earlier this year.

The SPD had 31 per cent support, just one point behind the CDU/CSU at 32 per cent, in the ‘Deutschland Trend’ poll by ARD from early March 2017. But the CDU/CSU now have now won back a staggering 17-point lead with 37 per cent support, compared to just 20 per cent for the SPD, according to the same poll in September. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have recieved a recent boost up to third place at 12 per cent. It is still down from the AfD's high of 15 per cent in January 2017.

EPA ARD Reuters Who will win the German election 2017? Latest polls as Angela Merkel battles Martin Schulz

At the start of the year, AfD leader Frauke Petry joined Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders in a bid to spread anti-EU populism across the Continent. But she lost momentum after the defeat of Mr Wilders in the Dutch election in March and Ms Le Pen's failure to win the French election run-off in May. Ms Petry decided against standing as lead candidate and is not running against Angela Merkel for the role of Chancellor. The lead candidates for the AfP are lesbian mother Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland, who used to belong to the CDU.

ARD Who will win the German election? The latest Deutschland Trend’ poll by ARD

The wave of right-wing populism against the EU seems to be ebbing away this year. In contrast, Mr Schulz represents the EU and all that it stands for. The former European Parliament President is a famous face in European politics but he was relatively unknown in Germany until the start of this year. His powerful rival, Angela Merkel, is affectionately known as Mutti - the German word for Mummy - by many Germans. Not only has she served as German Chancellor for more than a decade but she is widely seen as the most powerful woman in the world.

Angela Merkel in pictures Tue, August 8, 2017 Angela Merkel has served as German Chancellor since 2005 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000. We take a look at her political career in pictures. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 83 Angela Merkel through the years