# Laschet cabinet

The Laschet cabinet was the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia between 2017 and 2021, sworn in on 30 June 2017 after Armin Laschet was elected as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia by the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was the 24th Cabinet of North Rhine-Westphalia.
It was formed after the 2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP). Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprised twelve ministers. Eight were members of the CDU, three were members of the FDP, and one was an independent politician.
After Laschet's resignation as Minister-President, the Laschet cabinet was succeeded by the Wüst cabinet on 28 October 2021.

## Formation

The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hannelore Kraft.
The election took place on 14 May 2017, and resulted in substantial losses for both governing parties. The opposition CDU and FDP both recorded gains, with the former becoming the largest party. The AfD debuted at 7%.
Overall, the incumbent coalition lost its majority. The opposition coalition of the CDU and FDP won a slim majority of one seat. Also considered was a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD, but the SPD rejected this the day after the election. CDU leader Armin Laschet initially announced plans to held exploratory talks with the SPD, FDP, and Greens, but only the FDP accepted the offer.
On 22 May, the CDU and FDP boards unanimously voted to begin negotiations for a coalition. Meetings began the following day. They presented their coalition agreement in mid-June. The FDP held an online membership ballot to review the pact, with 97% voting in favour on about 50% turnout. The CDU congress unanimously approved the contract the next day, and it was formally signed on 26 June.
Laschet was elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 27 June, winning 100 votes out of 196 cast. His cabinet was sworn in on 30 June.

## Composition

| Portfolio | Minister | Party | Took office | Left office | State secretaries |
| Minister-President State Chancellery | Armin Laschet born (1961-02-18)18 February 1961 | CDU | 27 June 2017 | 26 October 2021 | Nathanael Liminski (Media, Head of the State Chancellery) Andrea Milz (Sport and Volunteering) |
| Acting Minister-President | Joachim Stamp born (1970-06-21)21 June 1970 | FDP | 26 October 2021 | 27 October 2021 | |
| Deputy Minister-PresidentMinister for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration | Joachim Stamp born (1970-06-21)21 June 1970 | FDP | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Andreas Bothe Serap Güler (Integration) |
| Minister for Finance | Lutz Lienenkämper born (1969-05-24)24 May 1969 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Patrick Opdenhövel |
| Minister for Interior | Herbert Reul born (1952-08-31)31 August 1952 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Jürgen Mathies |
| Minister for Economics, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy | Andreas Pinkwart born (1960-08-18)18 August 1960 | FDP | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Christoph Dammermann |
| Minister for Labour, Health and Social Affairs | Karl-Josef Laumann born (1957-07-11)11 July 1957 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Edmund Heller |
| Minister for School and Education | Yvonne Gebauer born (1966-08-02)2 August 1966 | FDP | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Mathias Richter |
| Minister for Homeland, Communities, Construction and Equality | Ina Scharrenbach born (1976-09-30)30 September 1976 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Jan Heinisch |
| Minister for Justice | Peter Biesenbach born (1948-02-10)10 February 1948 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Dirk Wedel |
| Minister for Transport | Hendrik Wüst born (1975-07-19)19 July 1975 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Hendrik Schulte |
| Minister for Environment, Agriculture, and Nature and Consumer Protection | Christina Schulze Föcking born (1976-11-19)19 November 1976 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 15 May 2018 | Heinrich Bottermann |
| Minister for Environment, Agriculture, and Nature and Consumer Protection | Ursula Heinen-Esser born (1965-10-07)7 October 1965 | CDU | 24 May 2018 | 27 October 2021 | Heinrich Bottermann |
| Minister for Culture and Science | Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen born (1954-04-25)25 April 1954 | Ind. | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Klaus Kaiser Annette Storsberg |
| Minister for Federal, European and International Affairs | Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner born (1948-10-05)5 October 1948 | CDU | 30 June 2017 | 27 October 2021 | Mark Speich |