Armin Laschet

Armin Laschet (born 18 February 1961) is a German politician. On 16 January 2021, he was elected Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), replacing Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. He was the Minister-president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2017 until 2021. He has also been a member of the Bundestag since 2021 and Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2022. 
In February 2020, Laschet announced his candidacy for Christian Democratic Union of Germany leader in the 2021 leadership election. He won the leadership race on 16 January 2021 after beating Friedrich Merz in the second round.
In the 2021 election, the CDU lost 50 seats with many news outlets seeing it as a historical loss. Following the federal election, Laschet claimed personal responsibility for the bad result and resigned as party leader.
Laschet resigned as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia on 26 October 2021 in order to become a member of the Bundestag.