Merkel Supplanted by Spahn as Germany’s Most Popular Politician

  • Health minister seen key contributor to virus response
  • Spahn was ‘clearly the winner of the year,’ pollster says
Jens SpahnPhotographer: Michele Tantussi/AFP/Getty Images
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn has taken over from Chancellor Angela Merkel as the nation’s most popular politician, a poll showed Sunday, highlighting his potential as a future leader of Europe’s biggest economy.

Spahn, 40, has long been considered a rising star in Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and is widely perceived to have made a key contribution to Germany’s relatively successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.