Angela Merkel has thrown her hat in the ring, announcing she will stand for re-election, ending months of speculation.

The conservative leader of eleven years is running for a fourth term as German Chancellor, and is being touted as one of the last hopes of liberal democracy post-Brexit and after the election of Trump.

Making her official announcement, she said:

“When it comes to politics, it is always about balancing interests, compromises, progress – steps taken forward, step by step – and I always try to do that on the basis of our values: democracy, freedom, respect for the law, the dignity of every human being independent of background, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political position”

If she is to survive the rise of nationalist populism, she must patch up the rift created by her open-door migration policy which has not only divided the country, but also driven away the Bavarian wing of her conservative alliance.

Despite a dip in her popularity, several of her CDU party members said the elections in 2017 would be difficult to win with her, but impossible to win without her.