Overview

• Caroline Bosbach secured the Rhein-Berg direct mandate with 42.2% of first votes, maintaining the CDU's long-standing dominance in the constituency.
• She defeated former FDP leader Christian Lindner, who garnered only 4.9% of the vote in the traditionally CDU-held district near Cologne.
• Bosbach credits her political awakening to her 2015 volunteer work at a refugee shelter, which shaped her views on state capacity and integration challenges.
• Despite her parents’ reservations about her entering politics, she regards her father, Wolfgang Bosbach, as a role model but aims to prioritize her health differently.
• The Rhein-Berg seat has been a CDU stronghold since 1994, with Wolfgang Bosbach holding the direct mandate until 2017 before his daughter’s recent victory.