Next CDU leader may be next German chancellor: analyst After 18 years at the head of the Conservative party, Angela Merkel will not stand again to be the party chairman at the CDU congress on December 7-8. Three main candidates are in the race to take over the party's chair: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn. According to analyst Sudha David-Wilp​, the winner of this election "will be in pole position" to become the next chancellor of Germany. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES.