Munich (dpa / lby) – The longtime head of the CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, Thomas Kreuzer, will end his political career in the coming year. The 63-year-old, who has been a directly elected member of parliament since 1994 and has been parliamentary group leader since 2013, will no longer stand for election in the 2023 state election, the CSU parliamentary group announced on Tuesday in Munich. Kreuzer is divorced and has a son.

Kreuzer justified the step with personal motives: “Although many in my constituency wanted to persuade me to run again and the district executive of the CSU-Kempten would have welcomed it, I decided not to run again,” said Kreuzer. Furthermore: “I have been a member of the state parliament for 29 years, and by the end of the next legislature I would be over 69 years old.”

That’s why he wants to set the course for a new start in his Kempten-Oberallgäu constituency in good time, says Kreuzer. “In my personal life planning, I would like to set other priorities after the end of this election period in autumn 2023 and also have time for private life.”

Kreuzer is considered an influential CSU politician who has repeatedly spoken out in recent years, particularly with his critical attitude to the migration policy of ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). In 2011 he was State Secretary in the Ministry of Education and from 2011 to 2013 as Head of the State Chancellery, also a member of the state government.