German conservatives to appoint Merz confidant to lead faction after surrogacy row

BERLIN, July 22 (Reuters) – Germany’s ruling conservatives will appoint a close ally of Chancellor Friedrich Merz as their new parliamentary faction chief, officials said on Wednesday, after the abrupt ​exit of party heavyweight Jens Spahn in a row ‌over a surrogacy baby.

Thorsten Frei, the head of Merz’s chancellery, will replace Spahn, two conservative party sources and a member of the Social Democrats both told Reuters, confirming an earlier media report by the Bild newspaper.

A government spokesperson ‌declined ​to comment on Frei’s appointment.

Spahn resigned on ⁠Saturday after having a baby ⁠born to a surrogate mother in the United States, a move at odds with his own party’s opposition to surrogacy. Spahn had at one time been seen as a potential challenger ​to Merz.

Frei, a longtime Merz confidant, has been responsible for coordinating government business from the chancellery, a role that has ⁠drawn scrutiny during the coalition’s rocky first ⁠year.

German media have reported criticism within the ruling ​parties — at a time of low public approval for Merz and his ​government — that coordination between the chancellery, ministries, parliamentary groups ‌and coalition partners has often been poor.

Frei’s supporters see him as better suited to the parliamentary post, saying he has strong backing in the faction and is well connected there. Discussions regarding who ⁠will succeed Frei as head of the chancellery are continuing, officials said.

Spahn, 46, the parliamentary leader of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union and its sister ⁠Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), ‌drew heavy criticism after news emerged that he ⁠had become a parent with his husband through ​the ‌surrogate mother.

Surrogacy is prohibited in Germany, although it ​is not illegal ⁠to bring up a child born of a surrogate mother outside Germany. The CDU voted to uphold the ban on surrogacy inside Germany at its party conference in February.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Markus Wacket and Ludwig Burger; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Kirsti Knolle ​and Gareth Jones)