The conservative premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, Hendrik Wuest, once considered a rival for the chancellor candidacy, earlier this year warned in a newspaper column the CDU should stick to Merkel's "policies of modernity" rather than "scoring cheap points".

The leaders of Germany's conservatives have agreed to nominate Christian Democrat (CDU) chief Friedrich Merz to run as chancellor in next year's federal election, the head of Bavaria's conservatives,

Germany’s opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union has chosen its leader Friedrich Merz to be its candidate for chancellor in next year’s national election.