Daniel Günther (born 24 July 1973) is a German politician who is a member of the
Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). Since 28 June 2017, he has served as the
Minister President of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
. From 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2019, he served as
President of the Bundesrat, being succeeded by
Dietmar Woidke.
Early life and education
Günther studied politics and psychology at
University of Kiel.
Career
Career in state politics
Günther has been a member of
Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. since the
2009 state elections. In parliament, he was a member of the Committee on Education (2009–2014) and the Finance Committee (2009–2012). From 2014 until 2017, he served as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group. In this capacity, he was also a member of the Council of Elders.
When
Ingbert Liebing resigned in late 2016 from his role as leading candidate for the
2017 state elections after consistently bad polling results, Günther was elected by the party members to lead the party into the election. After assuming the leadership, Günther led the party to a victory with 30.8% of the vote.
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, 2017–present
Günter first became the
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein on 28 June 2017. He was his party's
lead candidate for the
2022 Schleswig-Holstein State Election in which the party was the lead vote-getter with 43.4%.
As one of the state's representatives at the
Bundesrat, Günther also serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Role in national politics
Günther was a CDU delegate to the
Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the
President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...
in
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
and
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. In the – failed – negotiations to form a
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
with the
Christian Social Union in Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria ( German: , CSU) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democra ...
(CSU), the
Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the
Green Party following the
2017 national elections, he was part of the 19-member delegation of the CDU. In the ensuing negotiations with the Social Democrats, he led the working group on transport and infrastructure, this time alongside
Thomas Strobl and
Sören Bartol.
Together with
Bernd Althusmann,
Monika Grütters,
Michael Kretschmer and
Armin Laschet, Günther co-chaired the
CDU’s national convention in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in February 2018.
Other activities
*
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...
, Member of the Board of Trustees
*
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Ex-Officio chairman of the board of Trustees (since 2017)
* State Agency for Civic Education, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012)
* Stadtwerke Eckernförde, Member of the Supervisory Board (1998–2005)
Political positions
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’
leadership election in 2018, Günther publicly endorsed
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as the party's chair. For the
2021 leadership election, he later endorsed
Armin Laschet, and supported him as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed
Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Angela Merkel in the
2021 national elections.
Personal life
Günther is married to a
pediatrician. The couple have two daughters.
[Daniel Günther zum zweiten Mal Vater. Lübecker Nachrichten, 14. Oktober 2018, S. 7.]
See also
*
List of minister-presidents of Schleswig-Holstein
References
External links
Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. Daniel Günther
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Daniel
Minister-presidents of Schleswig-Holstein
21st-century German politicians
Presidents of the German Bundesrat
Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians
Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
Politicians from Kiel
1973 births
Living people
Ministers of the Schleswig-Holstein State Government