Angela Merkel received a stunning eight minute standing ovation as she stood down as chairperson of Germany’s ruling CDU party.
AMN / Hamburg
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been elected leader of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during party congress in Hamburg succeeding Angela Merkel.
56 years old Kramp-Karrenbauer is Merkel’s protege and was the continuity candidate favoured by the party elite .
She won the leadership with 517 votes out of 999 votes cast by delegates. Her rival, Friedrich Merz, won 482 votes in a run-off.
A former state premier in Saarland, where she led a three-way coalition, Kramp-Karrenbauer has a reputation for uniting support across the conservative CDU and a talent for striking alliances with other parties.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (born 9 August 1962), commonly referred to by her initials AKK previously served as secretary general of the party, and previously as Minister-President of Saarland from 2011 to 2018, the first woman to lead the government of Saarland and fourth woman to head a German state government. Kramp-Karrenbauer is regarded as socially conservative, but on the CDU’s left wing in economic policy, and has been described as a centrist. She is an active Catholic, and has served on the Central Committee of German Catholics.
Landesabend mit der Parteivorsitzenden. Und Angela Merkel. #cdupt18 pic.twitter.com/HRBqufA2So
— CDU Deutschlands (@CDU) December 7, 2018
Her task now is to improve the standing of the CDU, fight to win back voters on the left and the right and work with Mrs Merkel closely. While close to Mrs Merkel in many areas, she has been careful to distance herself on some topics and says she and the chancellor have had “very lively discussions” together.
She has avoided debates about Mrs Merkel’s decision to accept large numbers of refugees into Germany in 2015, but at other times has advocated a tough anti-migrant stance, proposing a life ban on entry to Europe for asylum seekers convicted of serious crimes.