Jost de Jager has been appointed chairman of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party (CDU) in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein after the former leader was forced to step down over an affair scandal.

The 46-year-old politician, the state's economy and transport minister, was unanimously appointed in a crisis meeting late Tuesday in the state capital, Kiel, and will be formally elected to his new role at the CDU party conference on September 24.

De Jager is now looking to win the May regional election for the CDU, replacing retiring current premier Peter Harry Carstensen.

Former CDU state chairman Christian von Boetticher resigned Sunday after he admitted to an affair with a 16-year-old girl.

Although the affair wasn't illegal under German law, it had been a source of controversy in the conservative party.

The 40-year-old Boetticher was the frontrunner for state premier in Germany's northernmost state in the upcoming election.

Author: Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler