Merkel could win absolute majority after conservatives" best result for two decades in German election Angela Merkel's conservatives could win an historic absolute majority after their strongest performance in German elections for more than two decades. Exit polls from public broadcaster ARD showed Chancellor Merkel's conservative bloc - which includes the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) - on 42.5 per cent, their best score since 1990. A projection based on the exit polls puts Merkel's conservatives a whisker ahead of the combined total for the leftist parties - Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Left party - who together scored 41.6 per cent. If Merkel does need to form a coalition it's unclear who it will be with - her current partners the Free Democrats (FDP) scored 4.7 per cent of the vote, below the 5 per cent needed to enter parliament. If the FDP fail to get into the Bundestag, Merkel could form a coalition with the SPD, who she governed with in her first term, from 2005-2009. Support for SPD stood at 26.4 per cent, their second-worst result since World War Two. Meanwhile newcoming eurosceptic party, Alternative for Germany , polled 4.9 per cent of the vote, a whisker short of the magic 5 per cent margin. It had earlier been predicted the party would make a significant impact. "This is a super result," said Merkel, who is now on course to eclipse Britain's Margaret Thatcher as the EU's longest-serving female head of government. We will do all we can in the next four years together to make them successful years for Germany. It is too early to say how we will proceed but today we should celebrate. Lena Roche, euronews" correspondent at the CDU's headquarters in Berlin, said the atmosphere is "bubbling with excitement." Hundreds of followers are celebrating the victory with beer, wine, currywurst and pretzel. Everytime a new projection pops up people cheer louldy. Angela Merkel appeared on stage around 9pm - the young CDU members even got her to dance a little bit. The election is of huge importance - Germany plays a crucial role in making decisions over the eurozone's debt crisis. Sunday's election is the first in Germany since the zone's financial problems erupted in 2009. Carsten Koschmieder, political analyst at Berlin's Free University, said: "If Merkel does end up with an absolute majority, it will be a very narrow majority so it will not make things easier for her politically. She will have to pay much more attention to people in her own party, for example those who voted against Greek bailouts. Mats Persson, director of think tank Open Europe, said: "Whatever happens this is a massive public endorsement for Angela Merkel, who has established herself as the most powerful female politician ever. Part of her resounding victory must also be seen as a validation of her eurozone policy - expect more of the same. Whether or not the anti-euro AfD makes it into parliament, its strong showing means it could become a force to be reckoned with in the European elections. No matter the coalition outcome, there will have to be a lot of soul searching by the FDP and centre-left. In the end the leadership of these parties could well end up paying the price for their poor showing. French president Francois Hollande congratulated Merkel, inviting her to talks in Paris once her new government is formed. Hollande and Merkel had a conversation in which they expressed their wish to "pursue their close cooperation in order to take up the new challenges of Europe's construction." Turnout was about 41 per cent by 14h CET, up from 36 per cent at the same time in the 2009 election. Merkel's Christian Democrats have ruled in a coalition with the pro-business FDP since 2009. In the run-up to the election, the FDP pledged to continue in coalition with Merkel - if together they win enough votes - but its support has dropped away in recent years. Regardless of her coalition, she faces major challenges in a new term, from bedding down her shift from nuclear to renewable power to fending off a demographic crisis, and setting out a vision for Europe, which may be past the acute phase of its crisis but is still plagued by recession and unemployment. The last time a German party won an absolute majority was in 1957 with conservative leader Konrad Adenauer. Germany has the biggest population in the EU and 62million are eligible to vote.