Leader of Merkel’s party moves forward in bid to be chancellor candidate

Armin Laschet, CDU federal chairman and minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, arrives at the CDU presidium meeting in front of party headquarters in Berlin, Germany (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

The leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has backed party chairman Armin Laschet’s bid to become the centre-right candidate for Germany’s next leader, one of his deputies said.

The development gives him an advantage after he and a rival both declared their ambitions.