Winkel confirmed as head of the Junge Union with the best result to date

The CDU Bundestag member Johannes Winkel has been confirmed as chairman of the Junge Union with his best election result to date. At the Germany Day of the independent youth organization of the CDU and CSU in Bonn, he received 265 of 283 valid votes. 16 delegates voted against him, two abstained.

Without the abstentions, which, unlike other parties, are not counted in the Union, Winkel achieved 94.3 percent approval. In 2024, Winkel received 90.5 percent of the delegate votes. In his first election in November 2022 it was 87.0 percent.

In his speech at Germany Day, Winkel pointed out the seriousness of the situation in the Union, which is at rock bottom after three disastrous state elections and survey results below 20 percent. At the same time, the 34-year-old lawyer called for confidence and self-confidence. “Our generation still has a lot to do with this union,” he said. “And we will be the ones who successfully continue to write the history of the People’s Party of the CDU and CSU.”

Winkel clearly differentiated himself from the AfD. As long as it “adopts nationalistic positions and brings extremists into its ranks, we will not work with this party,” he emphasized. “For me, this is a question of character and not of poll numbers.”

According to its own information, the Junge Union has around 90,000 members and describes itself as the largest political youth association in Germany and Europe. Before the start of Germany Day, Winkel emphasized the independence of the Union's young party members. “We do our own thing.”

The appearance of Federal Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz on Saturday is eagerly awaited, as he clashed violently with the delegates last year over the pension reform.