Almost three quarters of Germans want Chancellor Angela Merkel to remain in office up to the end of her term in 2021, according to a poll conducted by the national public broadcaster, ZDF, published on Thursday.

The chancellor was particularly popular among members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), 88 per cent of whom are happy for her to see out her fourth term, while a surprising 85 per cent of supporters of the Green opposition party take the same view.

According to the ZDF poll, support for Merkel’s broad coalition, which includes the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as junior partner, has risen, with 62 per cent, saying that it was doing good work, up from 50 per cent in August.

A separate poll by rival public broadcaster ARD came to a radically different outcome, with 67 per cent dissatisfied with the coalition government’s performance.

Nevertheless, the ARD poll found that 61 per cent believed that the coalition should continue to the end of its term.

ZDF’s Politbarometer put current support for the CDU, along with its Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), on 28 per cent, followed by the Greens on 24 per cent.

The SPD came in at 15 per cent, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at 13, the hard-left Die Linke at seven and the liberal FDP at six per cent.

Merkel’s successor as the head of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, fared poorly.

The ZDF poll found 71 per cent doubting her ability to lead the party, and in the ARD poll, 66 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with her performance.