At the state party convention in Duisburg, Henning Höne, the leader of the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), has received a significant boost for his bid for the national chairmanship of the FDP. On Saturday, he was re-elected as the state chairman of FDP NRW with approximately 85 percent of the votes cast by delegates, marking a very strong outcome for him.
This result significantly surpasses his previous performance, achieving 79 percent in 2024 and only 54 percent in 2023-and these earlier percentages were recorded without any opposing candidates. During the event, Höne stated that the party shared a united mission: “We want to create a comeback for North Rhine-Westphalia”. He referenced key policy goals, including fighting against what he termed “the big state” and fostering an environment where the economy can once again grow.
In other leadership elections, Frank Schäffler was re-elected as a deputy state chairman with 65 percent support, and Katrin Helling-Plahr secured re-election with 74 percent. Alexander Steffen from Ratingen was elected the new deputy state chairman, receiving 71 percent of the vote. Furthermore, Moritz Körner retained his position as the General Secretary for the Free Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia, gathering 77 percent of the endorsement.
Looking forward, Höne also aims to secure the role of chairman of the federal FDP at the federal party convention scheduled for the end of May. At present, this election is expected to become a competitive race against Wolfgang Kubicki.
