Manuel Hagel
Manuel Hagel is a former German bank employee and politician of the Christian Democratic Union who has been serving as a member of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg since 2016, where has been chairing his party's parliamentary group since 2021. From 2016 to 2021, he was the secretary general of his party in Baden-Württemberg, under the leadership of its chairman Thomas Strobl. In May 2025, he was selected as CDU's candidate for state Minister-President for the upcoming 2026 state election.
Early life and career
Hagel was born 1988 in the Swabian town of Ehingen and became a banker. He is Catholic and has served as the altar boy, after his grandfather was a sacristan.Political career
Hagel entered the CDU in 2006 and was elected as part of his party's leadership in Baden-Württemberg in 2015. He became a member of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg in the 2016 state elections. In parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Internal Affairs, Digitization and Migration and on the Committee on Consumer Protection.On the basis of a proposal made by Thomas Strobl, Hagel was elected as secretary general of the CDU in Baden-Württemberg in 2016.
Hagel was nominated by his party as delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2022.
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition under the leadership of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats following the 2025 German elections, Hagel led the CDU delegation in the working group on digital policy; his counterparts from the other parties were Reinhard Brandl and Armand Zorn.