The next German chancellor’s top aides

A new chancellor in Germany means new political aides in the chancellery. But who are the power players waiting in the wings, hoping to shake up Berlin’s political scene should their man emerge victorious?

With Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Armin Laschet from the conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) leading the race to succeed Angela Merkel, POLITICO takes a look at the potential newcomers sailing in with them.

Team Scholz

Wolfgang Schmidt

The 51-year-old Social Democrat insider is Scholz’s powerful and well-connected right-hand man. As state secretary at the ministry of finance, Schmidt spent the last few years coordinating Scholz’s two jobs as finance minister and vice chancellor.

Many also credit him as the spin doctor behind Scholz’s rise. “He’s the one standing behind Olaf and making sure he gets the right note at the right time,” said Jens Geier, the chair of the SPD delegation in the European Parliament,” and at the same time he ensures that the next five notes are being prepared.”

The two men know each other from Hamburg, where they grew up, studied law and participated in the Social Democratic Party’s youth wing (although Scholz is some years older). In 2002, Scholz — then his party’s secretary-general — recruited Schmidt as his personal secretary, striking a professional relationship that has endured to this day.

Personality-wise, the two men couldn’t be more different. Where Scholz is famously reserved and stiff, Schmidt is a jovial, active communicator — including on Twitter, where he extols his boss and skewers his opponents. His use of the social media platform recently got him in trouble, however, with prosecutors opening a probe against him after he published confidential court documents in a pushback against criticism of Scholz related to a money-laundering investigation.

Provided his Twitter escapades don’t get him into too much trouble, Schmidt can hope for an influential role should Scholz become chancellor — potentially as his chief of staff.

Rolf Bösinger and Jörg Kukies

Like Schmidt, these two men are long-time Social Democrats serving as state secretaries in the finance ministry, though they’re less likely to be in the spotlight. Bösinger is an economist and mathematician who, like Schmidt, started working for Scholz in 2002 and has since become one of his most trusted advisers in political, economic and financial matters.

Kukies joined the team much later (in 2017) as an expert for international financial and monetary policy, drawing on his 17-year stint at Goldman Sachs. He proved himself during the coronavirus crisis by becoming a key architect of the EU’s recovery fund and also deals regularly with EU affairs, traveling frequently to Brussels to represent the ministry.

Scholz hasn’t said whether he’d pick Bösinger and Kukies for his top team, but it’s likely he’d find their European experience and financial expertise helpful should he become chancellor.

Britta Ernst

The 60-year-old Social Democrat is unlikely to take up an official role in a Scholz government. As Scholz’s wife of more than 20 years, Ernst is “a close confidant” and important informal adviser — at least according to Milan Pein, a local SPD lawmaker also hailing from Hamburg. Ernst is also a career politician herself, however, and she and her husband have taken pains to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest during their long careers.

When Scholz became premier of Hamburg in 2011, Ernst switched from Hamburg politics to the neighboring Schleswig-Holstein state, where she was promoted to minister for education in 2014. Around the time Scholz moved to Berlin as finance minister, Ernst became education minister in the neighboring Brandenburg state — a role she will likely seek to maintain even if her husband clinches Germany’s top political job.

Other possible players

Others close to Scholz whose careers could be boosted include Lars Klingbeil, the SPD secretary-general and his most important campaign manager, Jeanette Schwamberger, the current head of Scholz’s office at the finance ministry, Steffen Hebestreit, Scholz’s spokesperson, and Benjamin Mikfeld, a general adviser to Scholz at the ministry.

In Scholz’s political home of Hamburg, there is also speculation that Premier Peter Tschentscher, senator for social issues Melanie Leonhard or senator for cultural issues Carsten Brosda could follow him to Berlin.

Team Laschet

Nathanael Liminski

The 36-year-old state secretary has worked for Laschet since 2014 and now serves as his chief of staff as leader of North Rhine-Westphalia. A crucial backroom fixer, Liminski expertly helped his boss govern in a state the government depends on for a one-vote majority.

“Look how largely trouble-free the government has been operating during the past years, despite the thin majority,” said Elmar Brok, a veteran CDU politician from North Rhine-Westphalia. “This requires good management. Laschet knows that he can fully rely on Liminski — he’s very pragmatic.”

Over the past year, Liminski has been handling the day-to-day business of governing, while Laschet toured the company campaigning for chancellor. The only hitch during that time was the July floods, when Laschet returned home only to be caught on camera grinning and joking inappropriately.  

Liminski, who grew up in a Catholic family with nine siblings and has four children himself, is known for his conservative values. He voiced critical views toward abortion and LGTBQ+ rights in a 2007 interview, saying “I know many homosexuals, and I feel sorry for some of them.” These remarks haunted him during an election campaign that would — should Laschet win — possibly have him enter the chancellery as chief of staff.

Mark Speich

If Laschet gets elected as chancellor, Speich has a good chance of becoming his adviser on foreign policy or European affairs. Speich leads North Rhine-Westphalia’s representation in Berlin — a job in which he has served as Laschet’s “seismograph for finer political vibrations,” watching trends in the German capital and managing relations with EU institutions, with frequent visits to Brussels.

51-year-old Speich declined to comment on his potential next job but said he has “a passion for foreign and security policy that goes back a very long way,” adding: “While other teenagers were probably interested in other topics, I was concerned with Warsaw Pact troop levels … For me, Europe and international affairs always played a very important role.”

Serap Güler

A daughter of Turkish immigrants, the 41-year-old CDU politician has a personal and professional background that makes her a political expert on integration. Having served the past four years as secretary of state for integration and family in North Rhine-Westphalia under Laschet, who recruited her as his personal assistant when he held the same post more than a decade ago, Güler is currently campaigning to become an MP.

CDU insiders say Laschet speaks highly of Güler, who — provided he becomes chancellor — could follow him to Berlin in an even more high-profile role, such as state secretary for integration at the federal level.

Other possible players

Other important Laschet aides include Hermann Gröhe, a CDU spin doctor and former German health minister, Christian Wiermer, his spokesperson in North Rhine-Westphalia, and Tanit Koch, his chief campaign spokesperson and former editor-in-chief of BILD, Germany’s biggest daily. The 25-year-old CDU newcomer Wiebke Winter, who co-founded a climate movement in the party, has also become an important supporter for Laschet as he seeks to boost his green credentials.

CDU veteran politician Friedrich Merz may have been one of Laschet’s rivals for the party’s nomination as a candidate for chancellor, but Laschet recruited him to his team nonetheless. In the hopes of attracting conservative supporters, Laschet promised late last month that Merz will become “the face of economic and financial policy” in his new government should he win the chancellery.