Angela Merkel reveals she will step down as German Chancellor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed today she will step down from her post in 2021.
Merkel also said she will not seek re-election as chairwoman of the Christian Democrats (CDU) party at the end of the year.
"I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends," she said in a Berlin press conference.
Her decision follows heavy losses her party suffered in regional elections in Hesse over the weekend, where the CDU won despite seeing its share of the vote trimmed back to just 27 per cent, its lowest since 1966
The CDU and their coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), were both down 10 per cent on previous polling there.
Merkel told media that she took "full responsibility" for the results.
Stepping down from the party chair role this December could allow her successor to build a reputation before Germany's next national election in 2021.
Merkel has led the CDU for 18 years and became Chancellor in 2005.
However, a poor party performance in last year’s general election forced Merkel to form a coalition with the SPD. Her personal popularity has waned as she has come under criticism over the 2015 migrant crisis, which saw Germany open its borders to Syrian refugees and refugees who were stuck in Hungary.
That led to a split with her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, this summer, which was resolved when the pair agreed that migrants would be returned to the countries in which they first registered after leaving their countries of origin.
The euro weakened following today's news, trading at €1.1389 against the dollar.
Josh Mahony, market analyst at financial trading platform IG, said: “There is no guarantee that Merkel’s decision to leave will have any negative impact upon Europe or Germany, yet it does add an element of uncertainty which could hold back confidence in the euro in the fourth quarter.
“A change is clearly needed to avoid any further slide in towards the political extremes. With the right wing, anti-immigrant AfD party gaining 13 per cent of the vote, there is a clear need to reshape the CDU’s position as Merkel continues to be defined by response to the 2015 immigrant crisis.”