2018 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election

2018 Christian Democratic Union leadership election
999 delegates in the 31st CDU National Congress; 500 delegates votes needed to win
Leader before election; Angela Merkel;	Elected Leader ; Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer;

The 2018 Christian Democratic Union leadership election took place during the party's 31st Congress in Hamburg at the Messehallen convention center on 7–8 December following Angela Merkel's decision in October 2018 not to stand for party leader at the 2018 party conference following the party's bad performance^[1] in the 2018 Hessian state election and the party's consistently low numbers in national polls.^[2]

In the subsequent party executive meeting on 29 October 2018, both the CDU's General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn announced their candidacy in the election. This was followed by Merkel's former arch-rival Friedrich Merz, who announced his bid and his return to politics on 30 October 2018.^[3]^[4] Spahn was eliminated after the first round, and Kramp-Karrenbauer subsequently won close-run second round of voting by 18 votes.^[5]

^ Blond, Josie Le (2018-10-29). "Merkel suffers another election setback in key German state of Hesse". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
^ "Sonntagsfrage – Forsa (Wahlumfragen zur Bundestagswahl)". Wahlrecht.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-30.
^ Henley, Jon (2018-10-30). "Angela Merkel exit plan sparks succession battle in party ranks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
^ Wer löst Merkel ab?, n-tv, 29 Oct 2018
^ Connolly, Kate (7 December 2018). "Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer elected Merkel's successor as CDU leader". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2018.

[1] Blond, Josie Le (2018-10-29). "Merkel suffers another election setback in key German state of Hesse". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-30.

[2] "Sonntagsfrage – Forsa (Wahlumfragen zur Bundestagswahl)". Wahlrecht.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-30.

[3] Henley, Jon (2018-10-30). "Angela Merkel exit plan sparks succession battle in party ranks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-30.

[ntv-4] Wer löst Merkel ab?, n-tv, 29 Oct 2018

[connolly-5] Connolly, Kate (7 December 2018). "Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer elected Merkel's successor as CDU leader". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2018.

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