Jens Spahn
Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician who served as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he has been the member of the lower house of the federal parliament, the Bundestag (German: Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages, MdB), for Steinfurt I – Borken I since 2002.
Jens Spahn | |
|---|---|
Spahn in 2020 | |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 14 March 2018 – 8 December 2021 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Hermann Gröhe |
| Succeeded by | Karl Lauterbach |
| Deputy Leader of the Christian Democratic Union | |
| In office 16 January 2021 – 20 January 2022 | |
| Leader | Armin Laschet |
| Preceded by | Armin Laschet |
| Succeeded by | Carsten Linnemann |
| Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance | |
| In office 3 July 2015 – 14 March 2018 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Minister | Wolfgang Schäuble Peter Altmaier (acting) |
| Preceded by | Steffen Kampeter |
| Succeeded by | Christine Lambrecht |
| Member of the Bundestag for Steinfurt I – Borken I | |
| Assumed office 17 October 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jens Georg Spahn 16 May 1980 Ahaus, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Germany) |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | University of Hagen |
| Occupation |
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| Website | Official website |
At the time of his election in 2002, Spahn – at age 22 – was the youngest member of the CDU in the German parliament. He has since then served in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and currently in the 20th Bundestags and is one of the main sponsors of pension reform in Germany. He was a member of the Committee of Health of the 17th Bundestag and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's spokesperson on health. He served as Minister of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
When Chancellor Angela Merkel stated her intention not to seek re-election for the CDU party leadership in 2018, Spahn announced his intention to stand for election as her successor in December 2018. He was eliminated in the first round of voting; the position instead went to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Following Kramp-Karrenbauer's decision to resign in February 2020, he announced that he would not run for the party's leadership but instead endorse candidate Armin Laschet. His alliance with Laschet proved successful, as his ally became CDU party leader on 16 January 2021 and candidate for chancellor of the CDU/CSU party alliance on 19 April 2021.