On 16 January 2021, Laschet was elected leader of the CDU, winning 52.8% of delegates votes against Friedrich Merz in the second round of the contest. The result of the election was certified by postal vote of the party conference's delegates with the final result announced on 22 January. It was confirmed on 20 April 2021 that he would be the &lt;a href="CDU/CSU"&gt;CDU/CSU&lt;/a&gt; candidate for Chancellor of Germany, after rival Markus Söder conceded.