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.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office3**: Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union
- **alongside3**: Volker Bouffier, Julia Klöckner, Silvia Breher and Thomas Strobl
- **leader3**: Angela Merkel
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
- **term start3**: 5 December 2012
- **term end3**: 22 January 2021
- **predecessor3**: Norbert Röttgen
- **successor3**: Jens Spahn
- **office4**: Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union in North Rhine-Westphalia
- **deputy5**: Ralph Brinkhaus
Karl-Josef Laumann
Jan Heinisch
Ina Scharrenbach
Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker
- **term start4**: 20 June 2012
- **term end4**: 23 October 2021
- **predecessor5**: Norbert Röttgen
- **successor5**: Hendrik Wüst
- **1blankname4**: General Secretary
- **1namedata4**: Bodo Löttgen
Josef Hovenjürgen
- **office6**: Politics of North Rhine-Westphalia, Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia
- **term start6**: 22 June 2005
- **term end6**: 15 July 2010
- **1namedata6**: Jürgen Rüttgers
- **predecessor6**: Birgit Fischer
Ute Schäfer
- **successor6**: Guntram Schneider
Ute Schäfer


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office8**: Member of the German Bundestag, Member of the Bundestag
 for North Rhine-Westphalia
- **term start8**: 2021 German federal election, 26 October 2021
- **predecessor8**: _multi-member district_
- **constituency8**: Electoral system of Germany, Christian Democratic Union list
- **office9**: Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
- **term start9**: 2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 1 June 2017
- **term end9**: 27 October 2021
- **predecessor9**: Daniela Jansen
- **successor9**: Rainer Spiecker
- **constituency9**: Aachen, Aachen II
- **term start10**: 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 9 June 2010
- **term end10**: 2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election, 1 June 2017
- **predecessor10**: _multi-member district_
- **successor10**: _multi-member district_
- **constituency10**: Electoral system of Germany, Christian Democratic Union list
- **office11**: Member of the European Parliament
 for Germany (European Parliament constituency), Germany
- **term start11**: 1999 European Parliament election in Germany, 20 July 1999
- **term end11**: 29 June 2005
- **predecessor11**: _multi-member district_
- **successor11**: Jürgen Zimmerling
- **office12**: Member of the German Bundestag, Member of the Bundestag
 for Aachen I
- **term start12**: 1994 German federal election, 10 November 1994
- **term end12**: 1998 German federal election, 26 October 1998
- **predecessor12**: Hans Stercken
- **successor12**: Ulla Schmidt


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific-suffix**: Member of the German Bundestag, MdB
- **image**: Armin Laschet 2023 (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Laschet in 2021
- **office**: Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
- **term start**: 22 January 2021
- **term end**: 31 January 2022
- **deputy1**: Jens Spahn
Thomas Strobl
Volker Bouffier
Julia Klöckner
Silvia Breher
- **1namedata**: Paul Ziemiak
- **predecessor1**: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
- **successor1**: Friedrich Merz
- **office2**: List of Ministers-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
- **term start2**: 27 June 2017
- **term end2**: 26 October 2021
- **deputy2**: Joachim Stamp
- **predecessor2**: Hannelore Kraft
- **successor2**: Hendrik Wüst
- **party**: Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union
- **birth place**: Aachen, West Germany
- **residence**: Burtscheid
- **alma mater**: University of Munich
University of Bonn
- **children**: 3
- **signature**: Armin Laschet Signature.svg