Half of German voters want Merkel out early if she holds on to power, poll suggests

IF ANGELA MERKEL becomes German chancellor again, nearly half of voters would want her to leave office early, a poll has suggested .

Mrs Merkel’s conservatives won a national election in September, setting her up for a fourth stint in office, but they bled support to the far-right and talks on a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats collapsed last month.

Mrs Merkel is now pinning her hopes on cutting a deal with the centreleft Social Democrats (SPD), who finished second in the election but have so far given a lukewarm response to the idea of renewing the “grand coalition” that governed Germany between 2013 and 2017.

In a sign that support for Europe’s most influential leader may be waning the Yougov survey, published in yesterday’s Die Welt, showed 47 per cent of respondents wanted Mrs Merkel to step aside before 2021, when her fourth term would end – up from 36 per cent in a poll taken at the beginning of October.

By contrast, only 36 per cent want her to serve a full four years, compared with 44 per cent three months ago.

The SPD, which lost ground among voters after its coalition with Mrs Merkel, has been reluctant to commit to a re-run as it looks to keep a sceptical rank and file on board.

Sigmar Gabriel, a former leader of the party, adopted a tough tone yesterday in the newspaper Bild.

“If the chancellery continues to reject all the proposals for EU reform, there will be no coalition with the SPD,” he told the paper. Martin Schulz, the SPD’S current leader, has championed deeper eurozone reform, calling for a United States of Europe by 2025.

Gabriel also said the conservatives need to reform healthcare to close the gap between private and state care.

Mrs Merkel’s conservatives and the SPD have said they will start exploratory coalition talks on Jan 7.