Thomas Markus Kufen (born 5 August 1973, in Essen) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Life
Kufen was a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2000 to 2005 and again from 2012 until 21 October 2015. Between 2005 and 2010, he served as Commissioner for Integration in the state government of Minister-President Jürgen Rüttgers.
Since 2015 Kufen has been Lord mayor of German city Essen.[ Website by Essen: Election results 2015]
Kufen has also been part of the CDU leadership in North Rhine-Westphalia under party chairman Armin Laschet since 2014. Following the 2017 state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Kufen was part of Laschet's team in the negotiations with the Free Democrats (FDP) on a coalition agreement. He served in the working group on municipal policy.
On the national level, Kufen was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2004 and 2017.
Other activities (selection)
Corporate boards
-
NRW.Bank, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2022)
[ 2022 Annual Report NRW.Bank.]
-
RWE, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2021)
[Stefan Schulte (October 25, 2021), Essens OB Kufen wird RWE-Aufsichtsrat, er gibt die Bezüge ab Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.]
-
Essen/Mülheim Airport, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
-
Essen Marketing GmbH (EMG), Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
-
Essener Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
-
Messe Essen, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
-
RAG-Stiftung, Member of the Board of Trustees
-
RWE Power AG, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
-
Sparkasse Essen, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board
[ Mandates of the Lord Mayor Essen.]
Non-profits
Political positions
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2021, Kufen publicly endorsed
Armin Laschet to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.
[Wolfgang Kintscher (January 7, 2020), Vier von fünf Essener Delegierten für Laschet als CDU-Chef Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.]
Personal life
Kufen is since 2015 married with fellow politician David Lüngen.
[ Der Westen.de: Thomas Kufen hat geheiratet (German)] In December 2017, he officiated the wedding of
Jens Spahn and Daniel Funke at Borbeck Palace in Essen.
[Kati Degenhardt (23 December 2017), Merkels bester Mann: Jens Spahn hat heimlich geheiratet BILD.]
External links
