The Laschet cabinet was the state government of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

between 2017 and 2021, sworn in on 30 June 2017 after

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) 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 (CDU) from 22 January 2021 t ...

was elected as

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (''NRW''). The position was created in 1946, when the British administr ...

by the members of the

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Düsseldorf-Hafen, Hafen ...

. It was the 24th Cabinet of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed after the

2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election The 2017 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 2017 to elect the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President ...

by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP). Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprised twelve ministers. Eight were members of the CDU, three were members of the FDP, and one was an

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

. After Laschet's resignation as Minister-President, the Laschet cabinet was succeeded by the Wüst cabinet on 28 October 2021.

Formation

The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

led by Minister-President

Hannelore Kraft Hannelore Kraft (née Külzhammer, 12 June 1961) is a German politician. She served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017. Kraft was the first woman to serve as head of government of this state and was the thi ...

. The election took place on 14 May 2017, and resulted in substantial losses for both governing parties. The opposition CDU and FDP both recorded gains, with the former becoming the largest party. The

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

debuted at 7%. Overall, the incumbent coalition lost its majority. The opposition coalition of the CDU and FDP won a slim majority of one seat. Also considered was a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

of the CDU and SPD, but the SPD rejected this the day after the election. CDU leader Armin Laschet initially announced plans to held exploratory talks with the SPD, FDP, and Greens, but only the FDP accepted the offer. On 22 May, the CDU and FDP boards unanimously voted to begin negotiations for a coalition. Meetings began the following day. They presented their coalition agreement in mid-June. The FDP held an online membership ballot to review the pact, with 97% voting in favour on about 50% turnout. The CDU congress unanimously approved the contract the next day, and it was formally signed on 26 June. Laschet was elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 27 June, winning 100 votes out of 196 cast. His cabinet was sworn in on 30 June.

Composition

External links

References

{{reflist Politics of North Rhine-Westphalia State governments of Germany Cabinets established in 2017 2017 establishments in Germany Cabinets of North Rhine-Westphalia 2021 disestablishments in Germany Cabinets disestablished in 2021