The political home of Angela Merkel, who served as Chancellor for 16 years until 2021, is the coalition of Germany’s leading centre-right forces Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the CSUOften referred to as “union” Christian Democratic Union,CSU Miles ahead in surveys. Its joint candidate, Friedrich Merzbecame the head of Christian Democratic Union In his third bid for the job in 2022. After a long career in politics Mr Merz went on to work as a corporate lawyer in 2009 and as an executive at BlackRock’s German branch as an asset manager, before a surprise comeback in 2018. Mr Merz will rule to Mrs Merkel’s right on migration and other issues, and take a much tougher stance on Russia than Mr Scholz. She is more popular than him spd rival, but is struggling to attract women and young voters.