BERLIN — Germany’s outgoing Chancellery boss Helge Braun will challenge for the leadership of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), local media reported.
Braun’s candidacy won’t be official until he announces it to the CDU branch in his home state of Hesse on Friday, but he is the first to step forward for the top job, and may have taken later entrants to the field by surprise. Until now Braun has not been regarded as a contender, unlike public figures whose names have been circulating for weeks, such as conservative veteran Friedrich Merz or foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen.
Röttgen, who ran unsuccessfully for the CDU leadership earlier this year, has scheduled a press conference on his candidacy for Friday.
Outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday that he would not run for the CDU leadership, ending rumors of a candidacy.
Braun, 49, is considered a close ally of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and has served as head of the Chancellery since 2018. Although he lost his direct mandate in the September 26 general election to 30-year-old Social Democrat Felix Döring, Braun remains a member of the German parliament thanks to his inclusion on a CDU party list under the country’s proportional election rules.
The CDU is having to choose its second leader within a year after incumbent party boss Armin Laschet lost the fall general election to Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). Laschet had previously defeated Merz and Röttgen in a CDU leadership contest in January.
