Volker Rühe is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as German Defence minister from 1 April 1992, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Kohl, to the end of the fifth Kohl Cabinet on 27 October 1998. During his time at the Defence Ministry Rühe played a central role in placing NATO enlargement on the German political agenda. He unsuccessfully ran for the office of minister-president of the German state Schleswig-Holstein in the year 2000, eventually losing against incumbent Heide Simonis.
Herbert Reul is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as State Minister for Internal Affairs in the government of successive Ministers-President Armin Laschet (2017–2021) and Hendrik Wüst. He previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
Norbert Lammert is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 12th president of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2017.
Gitta Connemann is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 2002. Since 2021, she has been serving as the chairwoman of MIT, the pro-business wing in the CDU/CSU.
Katherina Reiche is a German manager and former politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Wolfgang-Hubertus Heil is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the first cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 14 March 2018.
Norbert Barthle is a German politician of the Christian Democratic (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from 1998 until 2021, representing Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Norbert Alois Röttgen is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to May 2012. From 2014 to 2021, he was Chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee.
Volker Bouffier is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister President of the German state of Hessen from 31 August 2010 to 31 May 2022. From 1 November 2014 until 31 October 2015 he was President of the Bundesrat and ex officio deputy to the President of Germany.
Carsten Schneider is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 1998. Since 2021, he has also been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary for East Germany and Equivalent Living Conditions in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet.
Carsten Christoffer Linnemann is a German economist and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 2009 election, representing Paderborn. Since 2022, he has been one of five deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz.
Gottfried Hermann Gröhe is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister of Health in the third cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 until 2018.
Thomas Strobl is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Deputy Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2016.
Annette Widmann-Mauz is a German politician of the Christian Democrats who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 1998, representing the electoral district of Tübingen. In addition to her work in parliament, she served as Parliamentary State Secretary in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet from 2009 until 2021.
Helge Reinhold Braun is a German physician and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Between 2018 and 2021, he served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the fourth coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. He was the Parliamentary Secretary of State for Bureaucracy Reduction and Federal-State Relations at the Chancellery between 2013 and 2018.
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 in the 2018 Hessian state election and the party's consistently low numbers in national polls.
Thomas Jarzombek is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2009.
Günter Krings is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2002.
Serap Güler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She has been a Member of the German Bundestag since 2021, representing the Leverkusen – Cologne IV district.
Tanja Gönner is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the leading lobby organization of German industry.
