Armin Laschet is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 22 January 2021 to 31 January 2022. He was elected to the German Bundestag following the 2021 German federal election.
Laschet earned a law degree and worked as a journalist before and during his early political career. In 1994 he was elected to the German Bundestag and in 1999 he became a Member of the European Parliament. In 2005 he entered state politics in North Rhine-Westphalia as a member of the state government. In 2012 he became leader of the state party, and he was elected Prime Minister of the state in 2017. His Cabinet consisted of members of his own CDU and the liberal Free Democratic Party.
