David McAllister

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This article is about the German politician. For other people with the same name, see David McAllister (disambiguation).
David McAllister
MEP
McAllister, David-9220.jpg
Minister President of Lower Saxony
In office
1 July 2010 – 19 February 2013
Preceded by Christian Wulff
Succeeded by Stephan Weil
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
In office
4 March 2003 – 1 July 2010
Preceded by Christian Wulff
Succeeded by Björn Thümler
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Lower Saxony
Assumed office
June 2008
Preceded by Christian Wulff
Personal details
Born (1971-01-12) 12 January 1971 (age 53)
West Berlin
(now Berlin, Germany)
Political party  German:
Christian Democratic Union
 EU:
European People's Party
Spouse(s) Dunja Kolleck
Children 2
Residence Bad Bederkesa
Alma mater University of Hanover
Profession Lawyer
Religion Lutheran

David James "Mac" McAllister (born 12 January 1971[1]) is a German politician of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

On 1 July 2010 McAllister was elected Minister President of the state of Lower Saxony,[2][3] succeeding Christian Wulff, who resigned following his election as President of Germany. At the time, he was considered a rising star in the CDU, and was even being talked of as a potential successor to Angela Merkel.[4] Until his election defeat on 19 February 2013, he headed a coalition government with the liberal FDP, the Cabinet McAllister.

In the 2014 European elections, McAllister was elected a Member of the European Parliament at the top of the CDU's list of candidates in Lower Saxony.[5]

A lawyer by profession, he has served as the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag (Parliament) of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010 and was elected chairman of the state party in 2008.

Early life

University of Hanover, where McAllister studied law

McAllister was born in West Berlin on 12 January 1971 to a Scottish father and a German mother. His father, James Buchanan McAllister, was a British civil servant, originally from Glasgow (where the family still has relatives), stationed in West Berlin since 1969, where he was attached to the Royal Corps of Signals. His mother, Mechthild McAllister, is a music teacher. David McAllister was raised bilingually and attended a British primary school in Berlin.[6] In a 2010 interview he linked his family's name to Clan MacAlister.[7]

After his parents moved to the small town of Bad Bederkesa in Lower Saxony in 1982, he went to the Lower Saxon Internatsgymnasium (boarding school) in Bederkesa, where he took his Abitur in 1989. From 1989 till 1991, McAllister served as a soldier in the Bundeswehr, in Panzerbataillon 74 in Cuxhaven. From 1991–96 he studied law with a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation at the University of Hanover. In 1994, McAllister became local chairman of the CDU youth organisation, Junge Union, in the Cuxhaven district.

David McAllister holds both German and British citizenship, 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."[8] 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.[9]

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.[8]

Political career

From 1996 till 2010, McAllister was a member of the Cuxhaven district council (Kreistag). He served as mayor of his hometown of Bad Bederkesa from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to 2003, he also was secretary general of the CDU in Lower Saxony. Since 2003, McAllister has served as the leader of the CDU parliamentary party group in the Parliament of Lower Saxony, of which he has been a member since 1998. McAllister succeeded Christian Wulff as party chairman of the CDU in Lower Saxony in June 2008, winning the election by a record margin. In the United Kingdom, McAllister is a supporter of the Conservative Party.

File:Hannover Leineschloss.jpg
The Parliament of Lower Saxony, in the former residence of the Kings of Hanover

In 2005, Chancellor Angela Merkel offered him the position of Secretary General of the CDU, but McAllister declined, arguing he did not want to rise too far too fast.[10] He was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Premier of Lower Saxony, 2010-2013

On 4 June 2010, McAllister was designated by his party to succeed Christian Wulff as Premier of Lower Saxony, if the latter were to be elected President of Germany on 30 June. After the election of Wulff as President, David McAllister was elected the new Premier of Lower Saxony the following day. He was subsequently also appointed to the supervisory board of Volkswagen, the largest company in Lower Saxony and of which the state of Lower Saxony is a major stockholder.[11] From 2010, he also served as a member of the supervisory board of Volkswagen.

Following the Lower Saxony state election, 2013, David 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 Weil of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was elected Premier of Lower Saxony with the votes of SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens.[12]

Following the 2013 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

As a Member of the European Parliament, McAllister serves as chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the United States and as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In addition, he is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs.[13]

Other activities

Personal life

He is married to Dunja McAllister, née Kolleck, who is also a lawyer. They have two daughters named Jamie Elizabeth and Mia Louise.[14] He lives in Bad Bederkesa in the district of Cuxhaven.[15]

McAllister proposed to his wife on the shore of Loch Ness, and married in August 2003, wearing a kilt.[14] He later explained it was a family tradition. He supports Rangers FC and Hannover 96.[14][16]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Esther Bintliff (January 21, 2013), 5 reasons to care about the Lower Saxony election Financial Times.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Mac" brings Scottish flavor to German politics, by Dave Graham, Reuters, 4 February 2009
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs European Parliament.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
2003–2010		 Succeeded by
Björn Thümler
Prime Minister of Lower Saxony
2010–2013		 Succeeded by
Stephan Weil
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of Christian Democratic Union of Lower Saxony
2008–present		 Incumbent
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