January 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election

The 2021 Christian Democratic Union leadership election is set to take place during the Christian Democratic Union party's 33rd Congress. It was set to take place in Berlin on the 25 April 2020, following Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's decision in February 2020 to resign as Leader of the party.^[1] However, the election was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On 14 September 2020, it was announced that the election would be held as a one-day meeting on 4 December 2020, during which the leadership election would take place.^[2] In October 2020, it was postponed again to 15 and 16 January 2021.^[3]

Background

After her announcement, Norbert Röttgen surprisingly announced on 18 February 2020 his intention to run for the leadership.^[4] This was followed by a joint announcement on 25 February 2020 by Armin Laschet and Jens Spahn, in which Spahn endorsed Laschet for the leadership and Laschet announced his intention to stand.^[5]

A couple of hours later on 25 February 2020 Friedrich Merz in turn announced his intention to stand for the leadership of the party.^[6]

Candidates

Declared

	Name	Offices held	State	Announcement date
	Armin Laschet	Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia (2017-present) Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (2012-present) Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in North Rhine-Westphalia (2012-present)	North Rhine-Westphalia	25 February 2020
	Friedrich Merz	Leader of CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag/Leader of the Opposition (2000-2002) Member of the Bundestag (1994-2009) Member of the European Parliament (1989-1994)	North Rhine-Westphalia	25 February 2020
	Norbert Röttgen	Chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee (2014-present) Member of the Bundestag (1994-present) Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2009-2012) Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (2010-2012) Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in North Rhine-Westphalia (2010-2012)	North Rhine-Westphalia	18 February 2020

References

1. "Sonntagsfrage – Forsa (Wahlumfragen zur Bundestagswahl)". Wahlrecht.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-30.
2. "CDU wählt neuen Vorsitzenden auf eintägigem Parteitag am 4. Dezember". Reuters Africa (in German). 14 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
3. "CDU-Parteitag in Stuttgart wird wegen Corona abgesagt".
4. SPIEGEL, DER (18 February 2020). "Norbert Röttgen kandidiert für den CDU-Vorsitz - DER SPIEGEL - Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-26.
5. "The Double-Act That Wants to Take Over Germany". Bloomberg.com. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
6. Berlin, Berliner Morgenpost- (2020-02-25). "Friedrich Merz kandidiert - und schießt gegen Laschet und Spahn". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-26.