Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, to seek fourth term

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will run for a fourth term in office, members of her conservative party have said.

Mrs Merkel, 62, is expected to formally announce her intention later on Sunday at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin.

General elections are expected in Germany in autumn next year.

Mrs Merkel’s poll ratings have slipped since the height of her popularity but she retains wide support.

She suffered an embarrassing regional election defeat earlier this year and is being challenged by the populist right-wing AfD party.

Mrs Merkel said after the polls that she accepted responsibility for defeats in several states,

She also conceded that her open-door policy towards migrants – embodied in her phrase “wir schaffen das” (we can manage it) – was a factor in several state elections.

Germany expected up to 300,000 migrants to arrive in the country this year, the head of the country’s federal office for migration and refugees said earlier this year.

In 2015, Germany received more than a million applications for asylum.