The North Rhine-Westphalian CDU has elected the incumbent Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst as its state chairman.

At a party conference in Bielefeld on Saturday, Wüst received more than 98 percent approval.

The delegates thus followed the recommendation of the incumbent Prime Minister and previous head of the country, Armin Laschet, who had proposed Wüst as his successor in both offices at the beginning of October;

There were no opposing candidates.

Wüst gave the starting signal for the state election campaign on Saturday before his election for the coming week.

“I want to take off,” he said at the state party conference in Bielefeld.

Next week the NRW-CDU will start the “You count” campaign.

"We will immediately start listening," said Wüst in his application speech for the state chairmanship of the CDU.

"Stay down to earth and open"

Every single person in North Rhine-Westphalia should be heard with their worries and needs.

The state election is on May 15, 2022. Wüst assured that the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia would remain “down-to-earth and open”, but also remain self-critical.

"We have to remain open and put out our feelers." The party should not isolate itself, but must listen to all areas of society and remain broadly positioned in the future.

The approximately 660 delegates celebrated Wüst, as before the outgoing Prime Minister Armin Laschet, with a standing ovation.

Many held up signs that read "Team Wüst".

Laschet had already announced before the federal election that even if it failed, he would not return to North Rhine-Westphalia.