David McAllister

This article is about the German politician. For other people with the same name, see David McAllister (disambiguation).

David McAllister
Ministerpräsident a. D.
MEP
McAllister in 2016
Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 February 2017
Preceded byElmar Brok
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2014
ConstituencyGermany
Vice President of the European People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 October 2015
PresidentJoseph Daul
Donald Tusk
Preceded byMichel Barnier
Minister-President of Lower Saxony
In office
1 July 2010 – 19 February 2013
DeputyJörg Bode
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byStephan Weil
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Lower Saxony
In office
19 June 2008 – 12 November 2016
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byBernd Althusmann
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
In office
4 February 2003 – 1 July 2010
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byBjörn Thümler
Member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony
for Hadeln/Wesermünde
(Hadeln; 2003–2008)
(CDU List; 1998–2003)
In office
30 March 1998 – 26 March 2014
Preceded byBirgit Meyn-Horeis
Succeeded byAygül Özkan
Personal details
Born
David James McAllister

(1971-01-12) 12 January 1971 (age 53)
West Berlin, West Germany
Political party German:
Christian Democratic Union
 EU:
European People's Party
SpouseDunja Kolleck
Children2
Alma materLeibniz University Hannover
Websitemcallister.de
Military service
Allegiance Germany
Branch/service Bundeswehr
Years of service1989–1991
UnitArmy (Heer) / Panzerbataillon 74

David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971[1]) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. He is the current vice president of the European People's Party and he is also vice chairman of the International Democrat Union. He was appointed Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2017.[2]

On 1 July 2010 McAllister was elected Minister-President of the state of Lower Saxony,[3][4] succeeding Christian Wulff, who resigned following his election as President of Germany. Until his election defeat on 19 February 2013, he headed a coalition government with the liberal FDP, the Cabinet McAllister. In the 2014 European elections, McAllister was elected a Member of the European Parliament as the CDU's top candidate in Lower Saxony.[5]

A lawyer by profession, he served as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxon Parliament from 2003 to 2010 and was elected chairman of the state party in 2008. In November 2016 he left the chairman post, and announced that he sees his political future in Europe. McAllister holds both German and British citizenship.

Following his election as Minister-President, he was described as a rising star in the CDU and, at the time, as a potential successor to Angela Merkel.[6] He has more recently been mentioned as a possible future European Commissioner,[7][8] however this became impossible when his countrywoman, Ursula von der Leyen, was elected President of the European Commission in 2019 and 2024.

  1. ^ "Curriculum Vitae of Prime Minister David McAllister". Lower Saxony State Chancellery. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  2. ^ David McAllister, International Democrat Union
  3. ^ "State Chancellery". State-chancellery.niedersachsen.de. Retrieved 22 February 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Lower Saxony international". International.niedersachsen.de. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  5. ^ "European elections: MEP lists (complete)". The Parliament Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  6. ^ Esther Bintliff (21 January 2013), 5 reasons to care about the Lower Saxony election Financial Times.
  7. ^ Exner, Ulrich (11 February 2016). "Der dezente Wiederaufstieg des David McAllister" – via Welt Online.
  8. ^ "David McAllister gibt CDU-Parteivorsitz ab". 19 June 2016.