Armin Laschet, the man who might succeed Angela Merkel

“I MAY NOT be a great showman, but I am Armin Laschet—and you can trust that.” If the words with which Mr Laschet secured the leadership of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) were less than rousing, they encapsulated the appeal of the football-loving cigarillo-chomper who defeated two rivals at a vote of party delegates on January 16th. Now in charge of Germany’s ruling party, Mr Laschet is well placed to succeed Angela Merkel, his CDU colleague, who will step down as chancellor after a general election in September.

Yet Mr Laschet, premier of the hulking western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), faces several hurdles on his way to the chancellery. His narrow run-off victory by 53% to 47% over Friedrich Merz, a corporate lawyer backed by right-leaning delegates, underlines the first. Mr Merz is a serial political loser who has repeatedly failed to dispel suspicions that he is more interested in his own fortunes than his party’s. But he became a vessel for the hopes of CDU members who saw in Mrs Merkel’s departure a chance to stop its liberal drift on matters like migration. Jana Schminke, a CDU MP who backed Mr Merz, says members have resigned from the party and that disappointment is particularly acute in east Germany. Mr Laschet’s first task is to unite his party’s warring tribes.

A bigger obstacle lies...