Henning Höne, the FDP’s current vice‑chair, has announced that he will stand for the party’s top post. Speaking in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” on Thursday, he wrote that “our perspective, our way of doing politics, is needed” and added that a new start must be made. “I want to make the party a proposal for that and run for federal chairman at the party congress at the end of May” Höne said.
Höne clarified that he intends to run as the sole candidate rather than as part of a dual leadership. “My offer is one I make alone” he explained. He did, however, welcome the prospect of other prominent figures joining the effort. The EU parliamentarian Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann has recently signalled that she could imagine a joint leadership with Höne, and Höne expressed pleasure at the possibility of additional strong colleagues. “We need Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann, we need Wolfgang Kubicki, and many others” he said.
Only a few days after Höne’s announcement, the FDP federal board had declared that it would step down en masse before the end‑May congress. Party leader Christian Dürr described the move as a means to secure a new legitimacy and to confirm the direction he has set. Dürr himself intends to run again for the chair.
Höne criticised that course, arguing the party has not only lost elections but also trust. “That is what we need to regain. Since the last federal election too much time has elapsed. That is why we urgently need a restart in May” he said. He believes such a restart could only succeed with “new faces”. He does not see Dürr as part of a new board.