The race to succeed Angela Merkel as German leader was thrown wide open on Monday as Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the woman long seen as her anointed heir, said she would not run for chancellor in the next election.
Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer is also to stand down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, in a move that plunged the party into crisis and could ratchet up tensions in the CDU-led coalition government in Berlin.
The 57-year-old was favoured by Ms Merkel as her successor and was long seen as a shoo-in for chancellor. But a series of gaffes eroded her authority and sent her poll ratings into a tailspin.
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