Henning Höne, the FDP’s deputy leader, announced that he will run for the party’s top post. “Our perspective, our way of doing politics, is needed” he told Thursday’s issue of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. He added that the party must create a fresh start: “I want to offer the party a proposal and then run for national chairman at the federal party congress at the end of May”.
Höne stressed that he intends to run as the sole candidate, not as part of a dual leadership. “My offer is something I make alone” he said. The EU parliamentarian Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann had recently hinted she might pair with Höne in a co‑leadership bid. Höne welcomed the possibility of other prominent figures getting heavily involved. “We need Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann, we need Wolfgang Kubicki and many others” he told the FAZ.
Höne’s candidacy comes just days after the FDP’s federal board announced in the beginning of the week that it would resign en masse at the May congress. Party chief Christian Dürr said the resignation was a way to seek a fresh legitimacy, to have their new course ratified. Dürr himself intends to run again for party chair.
Höne criticized that approach, claiming the party has lost not only elections but also a lot of trust. “We have let too much time slip away since the federal election” he said. “We need a reboot in May, and it can only succeed with new faces”. He does not see Dürr as part of any new board.
