Ling Jihua
After the investigation and dismissal of former Hu Jintao aide Ling Jihua as head of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, Sun was named as head of the department on December 31, 2014. Sun was the first United Front chief to hold a concurrent Politburo seat since Ding Guan'gen. Her post in Tianjin was succeeded on an interim basis by Mayor Huang Xingguo. Since Sun ascended to the United Front chief position, Xi Jinping has taken on a new "datongzhan" (大统战) strategy for United Front work, expanding the scope of the United Front Work Department. In 2015, Wang Zhengwei, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was named deputy head of the department, assisting Sun, creating a unique situation where two of the top leaders of the United Front were held by "deputy national leader" ranked figures.