Markus Soeder attributed the poor CDU/CSU showing to its unpopular candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, and a weak campaign strategy: “It’s as simple as this: in the end, the Germans wanted a different candidate for chancellor than the one put forward by the CDU and CSU,” Soeder said at a regional meeting of his party’s youth wing in the Bavarian town of Deggendorf on Saturday.

The CSU had hoped for substantive new policies, he said, citing its desire for tax cuts for the middle class, company founders and high earners, which did not ultimately make it into the party’s manifesto. “Just saying that nothing is going to change is hardly a motivation or stimulation,” he added.

Without mentioning the CDU by name, Soeder called on the CSU’s sister party to avoid currying favour with the FDP and the Greens just to remain in government. He cautioned against sitting “on the doorstep” to power waiting to be brought in should negotiations between the three parties not lead anywhere. “We are not just the permanent substitute candidate,” he said.

Soeder called the election defeat a watershed moment for the CDU and CSU: “The Union lost everywhere, broadly and deeply … we are now only in fourth place among young voters.”