Germany heads to the polls this Sunday in an election which seems likely to return Angela Merkel to the Chancellery.

Shortly after his election as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Martin Schulz looked like a serious challenger to Europe’s most powerful political leader, even leapfrogging her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in a number of polls.

But as the election wore on, his centrist politics and conservative approach saw the SPD fail to inspire, and Merkel’s coalition partners now trail her by fifteen points or more in the final week.