The North Rhine-Westphalian FDP tried on Saturday to complete the process of coming to terms with the serious debacle in the state elections in May.

A party conference in Bielefeld redefined the entire board of what is by far the largest state association of Free Democrats.

However, even with the election of the chairman, it became clear that the party had not yet overcome its internal conflicts.

Although Henning Höne ran unopposed, he received only 54.5 percent of the votes.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Höne himself had only expected a mediocre result because the Young Liberals (Julis) had fueled reservations about him in recent months because, despite his 35 years, he has long been part of the party establishment.

A performance of between 70 and 80 percent was expected in party circles.

On Saturday, however, many delegates obviously used the vote on the presidency "as an outlet to vent frustration about the outcome of the state elections," as the parliamentary manager of the FDP state parliamentary group Marcel Haffke put it after Hönes debacle.

Other Free Democrats said they were glad that Höne had accepted the election at all.

Kicked out of government after five years

The 35-year-old Höne from Coesfeld in Münsterland was himself the state chairman of the Julis until 2013.

He now succeeds Joachim Stamp, under whose leadership the FDP fell to 5.9 percent in mid-May and was voted out of government responsibility after only five years of a black-yellow coalition.

Höne is already the chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in Düsseldorf.

In his application speech, Höne said that he was certain that the Bielefeld party conference would “send the signal: the Free Democrats are to be expected.

We are the political force that is always ready to work on itself.

We are the political force of the centre.

We are the political force for all people in the country who want to shape their own lives, who want to take responsibility for themselves and their environment.” The FDP will build on old successes.

"I am convinced that liberal politics is good for double-digit results, we should not settle for less."

Joachim Stamp, who has been Minister for Family and Migration in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017 and who is due to move to Berlin as the traffic light government’s special representative for migration in February, had previously called on the state FDP to stick together.

Stable Free Democrats in NRW are also important for the party as a whole.

It is also about backing the FDP federal ministers at the traffic lights.

"We shouldn't constantly justify ourselves for governing, we should prioritize our achievements," Stamp said.

The federal government is currently having to master “probably the toughest phase in history”.

However, the traffic light is much more stable than coalitions in partner countries and governs well in the crisis.