Angela Merkel has announced that she will not seek re-election in 2021.

The German chancellor will step down as chancellor, ending over a decade in politics.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, she said: “I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends.”

Disappointing results from Germany’s most recent regional elections led Merkel to say she saw the results as a “clear signal that things can’t go on as they are”.

Regional elections in Hesse and Bavaria for her Christian Democrats and its Bavaria-only sister party saw the CDU to be hit, with votes slumping 27% in the state.

Merkel has said that she has taken “full responsibility” for the fall in votes, making clear she would not handpick her successor as party leader.

In Germany, parties including the Greens and the far-right AfD have surged since the general election, as people are losing confidence in the main parties.

Merkel has been CDU’s chairwoman since 2000 and the chancellor since 2005.

A favourite to replace Markel is CDU secretary general, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

The chancellor recognised as one of the most powerful female political figures in the world. In 2015, she was named Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the year’.