Horst Seehofer

Horst Seehofer
Acting President of Germany
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 February 2012
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Christian Wulff
President of the Bundesrat
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2011
Preceded by	Hannelore Kraft
Minister-President of Bavaria
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 October 2008
Deputy	Martin Zeil
Preceded by	Günther Beckstein
Chairman of the Christian Social Union
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2008
Preceded by	Erwin Huber
Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2008
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Renate Künast
Succeeded by	Ilse Aigner
Federal Minister of Health
In office 6 May 1992 – 26 October 1998
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Gerda Hasselfeldt
Succeeded by	Andrea Fischer
Personal details
Born	4 July 1949 (1949-07-04) Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany
Political party	Christian Social Union
Spouse(s)	Karin Seehofer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Official website

Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician (CSU). He served as the Federal Minister for Health and Social Security from 1992 to 1998 and as the Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the cabinet of Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2008. In October 2008 he became chairman of the CSU and Minister-President of Bavaria.

During the term 2011–2012, Seehofer serves as President of the German Bundesrat. In this capacity, he became acting head of state on 17 February 2012, following the resignation of President Christian Wulff.

He is married to Karin Seehofer.

Federal Minister and Member of the Bundestag

He has been a member of the Lower House of the German Parliament (Bundestag) in Germany since 1980. Horst Seehofer was Federal Minister for Health and Social Security from 1992 to 1998 in the cabinet of Helmut Kohl. He then became assistant chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group of the Bundestag in October 1998. Because of his disagreement with flat-rate contributions (Gesundheitsprämie) to the federal health insurance he resigned from his post on 22 November 2004 but remained the assistant chairman of the CSU and kept his mandate. Since joining the Bundestag Horst Seehofer has kept his mandate as a directly elected delegate (Direktkandidat) from his Constituency Ingolstadt. At the 2005 federal election he received 65.9 percent of the votes in his district. Seehofer was appointed Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the cabinet of Angela Merkel and stayed in office from 2005 to 2008.

Minister-President in Bavaria

After his party lost more than 17% of the popular vote in the Bavarian state elections of 2008, incumbent Minister-President Günther Beckstein and Chairman of the CSU, Erwin Huber, announced their resignations. Seehofer was quickly proposed as their successor. At a party convention on 25 October he was affirmed as the new Chairman of the CSU with 90% of the votes, and on 27 October he was elected Minister-President by the Landtag with votes from the Free Democratic Party, forming the first coalition government in Bavaria since 1962. As the President of the Bundesrat, he has executed the powers of President of Germany as a temporary stand-in since Christian Wulff's resignation on 17 February 2012.

External links

• Official Site of Seehofer
• Official Bavarian government website Biography of Horst Seehofer (German)

Political offices
Preceded by Gerda Hasselfeldt	Federal Minister of Health 1992–1998	Succeeded by Andrea Fischer
Preceded by Renate Künast	Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection 2005–2008	Succeeded by Ilse Aigner
Preceded by Günther Beckstein	Minister-President of Bavaria 2008–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Hannelore Kraft	President of the Bundesrat 2011–present
Preceded by Christian Wulff	Acting President of Germany 2012–present
Party political offices
Preceded by Erwin Huber	Leader of the Christian Social Union 2008–present	Incumbent