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David McAllister

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This article is about the German politician. For other people with the same name, seeDavid McAllister (disambiguation).

David McAllister
Ministerpräsident a. D.
MEP
McAllister in 2016
Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 February 2017
Preceded byElmar Brok
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2014
ConstituencyGermany
Vice President of the European People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 October 2015
PresidentJoseph Daul
Donald Tusk
Preceded byMichel Barnier
Minister-President of Lower Saxony
In office
1 July 2010 – 19 February 2013
DeputyJörg Bode
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byStephan Weil
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Lower Saxony
In office
19 June 2008 – 12 November 2016
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byBernd Althusmann
Leader of theChristian Democratic Unionin theLandtag of Lower Saxony
In office
4 February 2003 – 1 July 2010
Preceded byChristian Wulff
Succeeded byBjörn Thümler
Member of theLandtag of Lower Saxony
for Hadeln/Wesermünde
(Hadeln; 2003–2008)
(CDU List;1998–2003)
In office
30 March 1998– 26 March 2014
Preceded byBirgit Meyn-Horeis
Succeeded byAygül Özkan
Personal details
Born
David James McAllister

(1971-01-12)12 January 1971(age 53)
West Berlin,West Germany
Political partyGerman:
Christian Democratic Union
EU:
European People's Party
SpouseDunja Kolleck
Children2
Alma materLeibniz University Hannover
Websitemcallister.de
Military service
AllegianceGermany
Branch/serviceBundeswehr
Years of service1989–1991
UnitArmy (Heer)/ Panzerbataillon 74

David James McAllister(born 12 January 1971[1]) is a German politician who has been a member of theEuropean Parliamentsince 2014. He is a member of theChristian Democratic Union,part of theEuropean People's Party.He is the current vice president of theEuropean People's Partyand he is also vice chairman of theInternational Democrat Union.He was appointedChair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committeein February 2017.[2]

On 1 July 2010 McAllister was electedMinister-Presidentof thestateofLower Saxony,[3][4]succeedingChristian Wulff,who resigned following his election asPresident of Germany.Until his election defeat on 19 February 2013, he headed a coalition government with the liberalFDP,theCabinet McAllister.In the2014 European elections,McAllister was elected a Member of the European Parliament as the CDU's top candidate in Lower Saxony.[5]

A lawyer by profession, he served as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in theLower Saxon Parliamentfrom 2003 to 2010 and was elected chairman of the state party in 2008. In November 2016 he left the chairman post, and announced that he sees his political future in Europe. McAllister holds both German and British citizenship.

Following his election as Minister-President, he was described as a rising star in the CDU and, at the time, as a potential successor toAngela Merkel.[6]He has more recently been mentioned as a possible futureEuropean Commissioner,[7][8]however this became impossible when his countrywoman,Ursula von der Leyen,was electedPresident of the European Commissionin2019and2024.

Early life

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Leibniz University Hannover,where McAllister studied law

McAllister was born inWest Berlinon 12 January 1971 to aScottishfather and a German mother. His father, James Buchanan McAllister, who was originally fromGlasgow(where the family still has relatives), was a British civil servant. From 1969, James McAllister worked in West Berlin, while attached to theBritish Army'sRoyal Corps of Signals.

David McAllister's mother, Mechthild McAllister, is a music teacher.

He was raised bilingually and attended a British primary school in Berlin.[9]

In a 2010 interview he linked his family's name toClan MacAlister.[10]

After his parents moved to the small town ofBad BederkesainLower Saxonyin 1982, he went to the Lower SaxonyInternatsgymnasium(boarding school) in Bederkesa, where he took hisAbiturin 1989. From 1989 till 1991, McAllister served hiscompulsory military servicein theBundeswehr,in Panzerbataillon 74 inCuxhaven.From 1991–96 he studied law with a scholarship from theKonrad Adenauer Foundationat theLeibniz University Hannover.In 1994, McAllister became local chairman of the CDU youth organisation,Junge Union,in theCuxhaven district.

McAllister holds both German and British citizenship and speaks both German and English as native languages, although he has stated that he's "more or less completely German. I've lived in Germany all my life. I did all my school in Germany and my military service in Germany."[11]His upbringing in West Berlin, however, he describes as "very British" with "British network, British schools". Holding dual citizenship, he could have relinquished his German citizenship to avoid compulsory military service in Germany (the UK does not have compulsory military service), but opted to serve instead.[12]

McAllister has said that "my upbringing in West Berlin may have had an impact on my resentment towards communists. I became a member of the CDU when I was 17 – it was a birthday present. My parents said, 'What do you want for your birthday?’ I said I wanted to become a member of the CDU", explaining that his father was a conservative, although neither of his parents were involved in party politics.[11]

Political career

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McAllister in an electoral poster for the2008 Lower Saxony state election

From 1996 till 2010, McAllister was a member of theCuxhaven districtcouncil (Kreistag). He served as mayor of his hometown of Bad Bederkesa from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to 2003, he also wassecretary generalof the CDU in Lower Saxony. Since 2003, McAllister has served as the leader of the CDU parliamentary party group in theParliament of Lower Saxony,of which he has been a member since 1998. McAllister succeededChristian Wulffas party chairman of the CDU in Lower Saxony from June 2008 until November 2016. He was succeeded byBernd Althusmann.In the United Kingdom, McAllister is a supporter of theConservative Party.

In 2005, ChancellorAngela Merkeloffered him the position of Secretary General of the CDU, but McAllister declined, arguing he did not want to rise too far too fast.[13]He was a CDU delegate to theFederal Conventionfor the purpose of electing thePresident of Germanyin 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Minister-President of Lower Saxony, 2010–2013

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On 4 June 2010, McAllister was designated by his party to succeedChristian Wulffas Minister-President of Lower Saxony, if the latter were to be electedPresident of Germanyon 30 June. After the election of Wulff as president, David McAllister was elected the new Minister-President of Lower Saxony the following day. He was subsequently also appointed to thesupervisory boardofVolkswagen,the largest company in Lower Saxony and of which the state of Lower Saxony is a major stockholder.[14]From 2010 until 2013, he also served as a member of thesupervisory boardofVolkswagen.

In December 2012, McAllister presided over the CDU’s national convention inHanover.[15]

Following the2013 Lower Saxony state election,McAllister's CDU-FDP Coalition lost control of the Landtag, which meant that the Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats eventually lost the government role. On 19 February 2013,Stephan Weilof theSocial Democratic Party of Germany(SPD) was elected Minister-President of Lower Saxony with the votes of SPD andAlliance '90/The Greens.[16]He resigned in March 2014 to prepare for theEuropean parliament election,where he was the lead candidate for the CDU/CSU.

Following the2013 German elections,McAllister was part of the CDU/CSU team in the negotiations with the SPD on a coalition agreement.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

[edit]

As a Member of the European Parliament, McAllister serves as chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the United States and as member of theCommittee on Foreign Affairs.In this capacity, he is the parliament's rapporteur onSerbia.[17]In addition, he is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs.[18]

He became vice chairman of theInternational Democrat Unionin 2014. In October 2015 he was elected vice president of theEuropean People's Party.[19]In this capacity, he co-chairs (alongsideJoseph Daul), the EPP's Working Group on European Policy.[20]

Since 2017, McAllister has been serving as chairman of theCommittee on Foreign Affairs,followingElmar Brok.[21]In this capacity, he also co-chairs – first alongsideLinda McAvan(2017-2019), laterTomas Tobé(since 2019) – the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG), which oversees the Parliament's election observation missions.[22]Within his own political group, he has been co-chairing theEPP Foreign Affairs Ministers Meetingsince 2017, alongsideSimon Coveney.[23]

In the negotiations to form acoalition governmentfollowing the2017 federal elections,McAllister was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on European policy, led byPeter Altmaier,Alexander DobrindtandAchim Post.

Following the2019 elections,McAllister was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on foreign policy.[24]

Other activities

[edit]

Corporate boards

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  • Matthai Verwaltungs-GmbH
  • Volkswagen,ex-officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2010–2013)

Non-profit organizations

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Political positions

[edit]

Following Brexit, McAllister joinedManfred Weber,Esteban González PonsandSandra Kalnietein co-signing a letter toPresident of the European ParliamentDavid Sassolito establish an EU-UK Joint Parliamentary Assembly.[27]In 2021, he joined forces withTerry ReintkeandRadosław Sikorskiin initiating a letter of 145 member of the European Parliament toCommission PresidentUrsula von der LeyenandEducation CommissionerMariya Gabrielin which they called for allowing Scotland and Wales to rejoin the European Union’sErasmus+mobility scheme.[28]

In a joint letter initiated byNorbert RöttgenandAnthony Gonzalezahead of the47th G7 summitin 2021, McAllister joined some 70 legislators from Europe, the US and Japan in calling upon their leaders to take a tough stance on China and to "avoid becoming dependent" on the country for technology includingartificial intelligenceand5G.[29]

Personal life

[edit]

McAllister is married to Dunja McAllister, née Kolleck, who is also a lawyer. He lives inBad Bederkesain the district of Cuxhaven.[30]He supportsRangers FCandHannover 96.[31]

Honours

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See also

[edit]

References

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  1. ^"Curriculum Vitae of Prime Minister David McAllister".Lower Saxony State Chancellery.Retrieved17 November2011.
  2. ^David McAllister,International Democrat Union
  3. ^"State Chancellery".State-chancellery.niedersachsen.de.Retrieved22 February2011.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^"Lower Saxony international".International.niedersachsen.de. Archived fromthe originalon 19 February 2012.Retrieved22 February2011.
  5. ^"European elections: MEP lists (complete)".The Parliament Magazine.Retrieved27 June2014.
  6. ^Esther Bintliff (21 January 2013),5 reasons to care about the Lower Saxony electionFinancial Times.
  7. ^Exner, Ulrich (11 February 2016)."Der dezente Wiederaufstieg des David McAllister"– via Welt Online.
  8. ^"David McAllister gibt CDU-Parteivorsitz ab".19 June 2016.
  9. ^"Mac" brings Scottish flavor to German politics,by Dave Graham,Reuters,4 February 2009
  10. ^Exner, Ulrich (1 July 2010)."McAllister lässt sich in keine Schublade stecken"[McAllister will not let himself be pigeonholed].Die Welt(in German).Retrieved10 June2012.
  11. ^ab"Scotsman to make history as state premier – The Local".Thelocal.de.Retrieved22 February2011.
  12. ^William Ahlen Berlin (22 February 2003)."Scot sets sights on leading Germany Son of Glasgow soldier becomes the Christian Democrat leader – Herald Scotland | Sport | SPL | Aberdeen".Herald Scotland.Retrieved22 February2011.
  13. ^Kate Connolly in Berlin (4 June 2010)."Conservative in a kilt to become premier of Lower Saxony | World news".The Guardian.UK.Retrieved22 February2011.
  14. ^"Handelszeitung – Neuer niedersächsischer Ministerpräsident zieht in VW-Aufsichtsrat ein".Handelszeitung.ch. 1 July 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 4 July 2010.Retrieved22 February2011.
  15. ^Protokoll: 25. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 4. – 5. Dezember 2012, HannoverKonrad Adenauer Foundation.
  16. ^Hebel, Christina (19 February 2013)."Neuer Niedersachsen-Premier Weil: Der Anti-Schröder startet durch"[New Lower Saxony PM Weil: The Anti-Schröder takes off].Spiegel Online(in German).Retrieved19 February2013.
  17. ^Europäische Union: McAllister betreut Beitrittsverhandlungen mit SerbienSpiegel Online,3 November 2014.
  18. ^Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEsEuropean Parliament.
  19. ^Party, EPP - European People's."Structure".Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2016.Retrieved13 July2016.
  20. ^Working GroupsEPP.
  21. ^Maïa de La Baume (24 January 2017),German MEP McAllister gets foreign affairs rolePolitico Europe.
  22. ^Members of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG)European Parliament
  23. ^Council of the EU and Ministerial meetingsArchived27 September 2016 at theWayback MachineEuropean People’s Party(EPP).
  24. ^Florian Eder (13 June 2019),POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid’s moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak[sic— Happy birthday, GDPR]Politico Europe.
  25. ^Friends of Europe appoints 29 new members to its Board of TrusteesFriends of Europe, press release of 25 June 2020.
  26. ^Board of TrusteesEuropean Youth Parliament – Germany.
  27. ^Maïa de La Baume (5 February 2020),Center-right MEPs pitch joint assembly with British parliamentPolitico Europe.
  28. ^Cristina Gallardo (22 January 2021),MEPs ask if Scotland, Wales can rejoin Erasmus student programPolitico Europe.
  29. ^Stuart Lau (25 January 2021),G7 lawmakers tell leaders to ‘stand up’ to ChinaPolitico Europe.
  30. ^McElroy, Damien (2 December 2012)."Half-British politician in line to lead Germany's CDU party".The Daily Telegraph.London.
  31. ^"The 'British' Germans the war left behind".BBC News.BBC. 16 November 2011.Retrieved16 November2011.
  32. ^"University forging German links - The University of Edinburgh".
[edit]
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Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of theChristian Democratic Unionin theLandtag of Lower Saxony
2003–2010 		Succeeded by
Prime Minister of Lower Saxony
2010–2013 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman ofChristian Democratic UnionofLower Saxony
2008–2016 		Succeeded by
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