Friedrich Merz tops recent election and looks to form a coalition
A former Mayer Brown lawyer is set to become the new German Chancellor after his political party gained 28.5% of the vote in the country’s most recent election.
Whilst he came on top by a comfortable 8% margin, Freidrich Merz and his Christian Democrat party (CDU) will need to form a coalition before taking power. The frontrunner for teaming up is the Social Democrats who have previously governed alongside Angela Merkel’s CDU three times between 2005 and 2021.
Merz’s legal learning started back in 1976 when he studied at The University of Bonn, beginning his career as a regional judge in 1986. Following a stint in the European Parliament the lawyer took up a position in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, and then joined Mayer Brown in 2005.
He continued to work for the international firm and be a parliamentarian up until 2009, before focussing on his legal career and becoming a senior counsel at the firm, with a focus on corporate, M&A, compliance, and banking.
Alongside a lawyer and politician, Merz has also served as chief of private equity giant Blackrock’s German advisory board. He left Mayer Brown in 2021 after taking back his parliamentary seat and winning the battle for chair of the CDU.
Speaking after his recent election win the incoming Chancellor said, “We need a swift and sensible formation of the government”, and that “we must become capable of acting internationally.”
“Europe is waiting for Germany”, he added.