Germany's ruling coalition trails in polls two weeks before election

Polls in Germany indicate that chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling centre-right bloc could be heading for a historic defeat in the country’s federal election on 26 September.

The bloc, led by Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is trailing the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) under the candidacy of finance minister and vice chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Scholz’s lead was further boosted by another solid imperturbable performance in a televised election debate on Sunday, according to snap opinion polls.

The elections mark a watershed as the first without an incumbent in the race since the Second World War.