A good six weeks after the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU) was again elected Prime Minister of the most populous federal state.

The 46-year-old lawyer is the first head of government in a black-green alliance in North Rhine-Westphalia.

106 of the 181 MPs present voted for Wüst.

Unlike the previous black-yellow alliance, which has governed with a unanimous majority since 2017, black-green has a comfortable majority of seats.

Of the 115 MPs from the CDU and Greens, five were excused on Tuesday due to illness.

Thus, Wüst received four fewer votes from the black-green ranks than possible.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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After being sworn in, Wüst (CDU) called for “constructive cooperation” between the government and the opposition in view of the many major challenges of the time.

Common ideas should be developed across party lines.

Wüst also acknowledged the services of the Social Democrats and Free Democrats for North Rhine-Westphalia.

"What the SPD did for cohesion, not only under Johannes Rau, has made North Rhine-Westphalia the cosmopolitan, diverse state it is today." solved, not only in the last five years".

Faster than expected

Wüst was elected the twelfth Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia at the end of October as the successor to Armin Laschet (CDU), the Union Chancellor candidate who failed in the federal election.

In the state elections on May 15, the CDU, under Wüst's leadership, emerged as the clear winner with 35.7 percent of the votes;

the SPD – which had long been tied in polls – had fallen to a new historic low of 26.7 percent.

Compared to 2017, the Greens, who came to 18.2 percent, were able to almost triple their best value so far.

The FDP had halved its result to 5.9 percent.

The CDU and the Greens came together more quickly than even their own ranks had expected.

The delegations of the two parties, which had previously been in opposing political camps, negotiated their 146-page coalition agreement in just three weeks.

At the weekend, party conferences of the CDU and the Greens approved the paper, in which the conversion of North Rhine-Westphalia “to become the first climate-neutral industrial nation in Europe” is described as the most important task in the coming years.

The black-green cabinet is to be presented and sworn in on Wednesday.

While the Greens announced at the end of last week who would head their four ministries, Wüst did not want to comment in advance on the CDU's personnel selection.

According to the coalition agreement, you are entitled to eight departments.

Compared to the black-yellow alliance, however, there will be significant changes on the CDU side because Finance Minister Lutz Lienenkämper announced a few days ago that he would no longer be aiming for a prominent political position in the new legislative period and because Ina Brandes (CDU )-led Ministry of Transport has now gone to the Greens.

A change is also pending at the head of the CDU parliamentary group.

Your previous chairman Bodo Löttgen, who also played a key role in the black-green coalition negotiations, announced his resignation a few days ago.