- Former candidate for the leadership of the CDU Marcus Weinberg leaves
Marcus Weinberg, a long-serving member of the German parliament from Hamburg-Altona and the CDU's top candidate in the 2020 state election, is leaving his party after 35 years. The 57-year-old teacher cited ideological differences and a lack of identification with the party's current direction as his reasons, as reported in the "Hamburger Abendblatt". The state CDU branch confirmed his departure.
"Societal values that emphasize unity and solidarity over populism and polarization, and a political understanding that focuses on compromise and responsibility towards all people rather than narrow voter clientelism, have always been essential for my connection to the CDU," Weinberg told the "Abendblatt". "These binding elements are no longer present in today's CDU in a way that is sustainable for me."
Landesvorsitzender Dennis Thering told the German Press Agency that he had taken note of Weinberg's departure, which was not entirely unexpected. "I wish Marcus Weinberg all the best."
Weinberg, who had been a member of the state parliament since 2001, was elected to the Bundestag in 2005 and served there until 2021, among other roles as the family policy spokesman for the Union faction. From 2011 to 2015, he was the chairman of the Hamburg CDU.
In the run-up to the 2020 state election, Weinberg stepped in as the top candidate after the preferred candidate of the state executive, Aygül Özkan, a former Lower Saxony social minister of Turkish origin, had to withdraw due to health reasons. During the campaign, he positioned himself as moderately liberal and programmatically compatible with the Greens. However, the CDU achieved its worst result to date with 11.2 percent.
Despite Weinberg's efforts to align the CDU with societal values that prioritize unity and solidarity, his departure from the party indicates a broader discontent within the European Union's political landscape, given that the EU values collective action and cooperation. The European Union, as a political and economic union of 27 European countries, could draw inspiration from Weinberg's call for unity and solidarity in addressing contemporary societal challenges.
