Berlin – The hopeful of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia likes to sign emails or SMS with “Wüst greets”. Hendrick Wüst, just 46 years old and recently become a father, is to inherit Armin Laschet as the new Prime Minister in North Rhine-Westphalia. He has had a career with ups and downs. And that for 20 years.
Hendrick Wüst has been Minister of Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017. He is always friendly, looks relaxed and likes to pretend to be a hip newcomer. Wüst knows how the CDU works; in his late twenties he was a member of the federal executive committee. But he wasn’t always as supple as he is today. There was a time when the Münsterländer was considered a beacon of hope for the conservative wing. At that time, he was just in his early 30s, he was promoted to Secretary General of the NRW CDU. Wüst was responsible for the nasty, perky and jagged attacks – sometimes against political opponents, but also against party friends. He liked that.
In 2007 Wüst presented a position paper with Markus Söder, among others: “Modern bourgeois conservatism” was the title. At the time, the FAZ spoke of “proof of insubordination”. Three years later, it looked like Wüst’s career was over. In 2010 he had to resign – because of an affair about bookable sponsor appointments with Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers. The episode “Rent a Rüttgers” made headlines across Germany. Shortly afterwards, the CDU lost the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In the meantime, Wüst has become more willing to compromise. He has turned into a middle-class politician. His suits have remained conservative. He will now have six months – until May 2022. Then a new state parliament will be elected in North Rhine-Westphalia. Should the CDU lose, his country father dreams would have burst.