New NRW Prime Minister: Wüst elected Laschet's successor in a voting thriller

Hendrik Wüst is the new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The coalition of CDU and FDP could also rely on votes from the opposition.

All information in the news ticker.

• North Rhine-Westphalia gets a new Prime Minister.

• Hendrik follows Armin Laschet *.

  His election took place in the Düsseldorf state parliament on Wednesday (October 27)

  (see first report).

  Laschet was passed as head of government

  (see update from October 27th at 1:25 pm).

• In the end, Wüst received more votes than expected.

  Parts of the opposition also voted for the CDU politician

  (see update from October 27, 2:10 p.m.)

  .

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from October 27, 2.10 p.m.: Hendrik Wüst has been elected as the new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia!

He received 103 votes, which means that MPs from the opposition also voted for Wüst.

The previous coalition of CDU and FDP has 100 votes.

Update from October 27, 1.40 p.m

.: Hendrik Wüst has now been officially proposed as the new Prime Minister.

This is followed by the vote, which, moreover, will take place in secret.

A result is expected in around 30 minutes.

Update from October 27, 1:34 p.m

.: State Parliament President André Kuper (CDU) thanks Laschet for his time as Prime Minister and emphasizes his integrative ability, even with minorities.

After Kuper's speech, the election of the new prime minister is to take place.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Armin Laschet adopted as Prime Minister

Update from October 27, 1:25 p.m

.: Laschet talks about things that have shaped him personally. He names the ministry for integration and structural change. "Today we are happy that the exit from hard coal was carried out in a socially acceptable manner". Europe must also keep its European perspective as well as the view of other states. Former MEP Laschet makes a plea for international cohesion. Laschet ends the speech with “Good luck and God's blessing for our state of North Rhine-Westphalia”. The hall rises for the outgoing head of government and applauds.

Update from October 27th, 1:16 pm

: Laschet talks about the Corona policy and his course of "measure and middle". The last one and a half years has been about going through the pandemic with responsibility and not overstraining the power that sustains it. "Probably no state government and no prime minister has been able to exercise as much power as this government at the height of the Corona crisis." The government in North Rhine-Westphalia had succeeded in doing this. There is applause in the state parliament.

Update from October 27, 1:12 p.m

.: Armin Laschet has just been adopted as Prime Minister. In his last speech in the Düsseldorf state parliament, the native of Aachen traced his path in state politics. He experienced ups and downs both in personal life and within the political groups. Laschet cuts his role as leader of a parliamentary group in the opposition and particularly goes into his time as prime minister. "Every role that you have in a parliament is equally important for a country," says Laschet - regardless of whether it is a government or an opposition.

Update from October 27, 1:05 p.m

.: The session in the Düsseldorf state parliament begins.

Before North Rhine-Westphalia's new Prime Minister is elected, Armin Laschet will be adopted as head of government.

The Union's candidate for chancellor has taken a seat next to his designated successor.

Update from October 27, 12:10 p.m.:

Before the election of the new Prime Minister in North Rhine-Westphalia

, the coalition

gathered in full strength in the state parliament on Wednesday morning, according to spokespersons.

All 72 CDU MPs and all 28 FDP MPs were fully present, they confirmed at the request of the German Press Agency.

The previous state transport minister, Hendrik Wüst, is dependent on each individual member of the coalition parliamentary groups in the first ballot.

In the second ballot, Wüst would only need more yes than no votes.

The state constitution allows a time corridor of two weeks for the second ballot.

+

Hendrik Wüst has now also arrived at the state parliament - together with his wife Katharina and daughter Philippa.

© Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa

NRW state parliament elects Laschet's successor: CDU and FDP need every vote

First report from October 27th:

Düsseldorf - There is little doubt that Hendrik Wüst (CDU *) will become the new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The previous transport minister of the most populous federal state is to inherit Armin Laschet as head of government.

A special session will take place in the Düsseldorf state parliament on Wednesday (October 27, 1 p.m.).

The current coalition needs every vote, as reported by 24rhein.de *.

North Rhine-Westphalia: CDU / FDP coalition needs an absolute majority

The 46-year-old lawyer from the Münsterland was recently elected as the new head of the NRW-CDU. He is running for election as the joint candidate of the government factions of the CDU and FDP. The vote is eagerly awaited, because black and yellow only have one vote majority in the state parliament. In the first ballot, Wüst needs an absolute majority and thus all 100 votes from the CDU and FDP in order to be elected Prime Minister. A total of 199 members sit in the state parliament.

The black-yellow coalition needs a closed result, because the SPD, Greens and AfD have already announced that Wüst does not want to vote.

Unsurprisingly, the FDP is unanimously behind the government partner's candidate.

The CDU is therefore optimistic.

CDU parliamentary group leader Bodo Löttgen said he was 100 percent sure that all the votes of the coalition groups would come together.

SPD opposition leader Thomas Kutschaty also assumed that the CDU / FDP government majority would be close.

"Anything else would be a big surprise," he said. 

North Rhine-Westphalia: The last Prime Ministers

NRW: Laschet also chooses his successor - and then goes to Berlin

One of the votes for Wüst will probably also come from Armin Laschet.

The Union's candidate for chancellor had already announced that he would move from Düsseldorf to Berlin after the federal election *.

Background: According to the NRW state constitution, a member of the state government cannot be a member of the Bundestag at the same time.

In other federal states, the regulations are less strict.

SPD politician Michael Müller is currently both a member of the Bundestag and mayor of Berlin *.

He will shortly be succeeded by party colleague Franziska Giffey, but will remain in office until the government is formed in Berlin.

For Laschet, however, his administration ended with the meeting of the Bundestag on Tuesday.

For only a short time, however, Laschet is a member of the state parliament in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Bundestag - and can therefore vote on Wednesday.

His deputy, Family Minister Joachim Stamp (FDP), temporarily took over the management of government affairs.

He is now scheduled to make way for Hendrik Wüst, supports the CDU politician - and is confident that it will work in the first ballot: "We haven't lost a single vote in almost four and a half years, and that will also be the case this time."