With the participation of the FDP in government, Christian Dürr also had the opportunity to take a step forward.

It was not enough for a ministerial post because Messrs. Lindner, Buschmann and Wissing are in front of him in the party hierarchy.

The 44-year-old politician from Lower Saxony managed to get the next most important post: On Tuesday, Dürr was elected as the new FDP parliamentary group leader in the German Bundestag.

He succeeds party leader Lindner, who is to be sworn in as finance minister this Wednesday.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen based in Hanover.

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The relationship of trust with Lindner is probably the most important reason why Dürr will head the parliamentary group in the future.

Another reason is the regional proportion: like the CDU, the FDP is currently dominated by men from North Rhine-Westphalia, because Christian Lindner rebuilt the party from Düsseldorf after its near demise in 2012.

The regional association has now been richly rewarded for this with the ministerial posts for Lindner and Buschmann.

If necessary with emotion and sharpness

Lower Saxony initially came away empty-handed, although the FDP has a wealth of younger and at the same time experienced politicians there, as one rarely comes across. This development goes back to 2003, when a number of very young men came into politics when the FDP returned to the state parliament under the leadership of Senior Walter Hirche. Christian Dürr from the Oldenburg region was one of them and was promoted to chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the state parliament as early as 2009.

In 2017 Dürr then moved to the Bundestag, also because he would not have been able to get past the FDP state chairman Stefan Birkner in Hanover - and he also did not want to, because both work closely together to this day. As people, Dürr and Birkner also stand for the team-oriented, unpretentious and matter-of-fact political style of the Lower Saxony FDP, in which one drives to Spiekeroog with the Passat rather than with the Porsche to Sylt.

In parliamentary debates, the married family man Dürr knows how to defend his party's point of view with emotion and, if necessary, with sharpness.

In the last legislative period, it was mainly questions of budget policy that the Protestant spoke about in the Bundestag.

Even if the graduate economist never held a prominent position in a company due to his early move to politics, Dürr is one of the economically liberal wing of his party.

With a view to possible future offices, Dürr can now open up further subject areas.