Jan Metzler | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1981-07-05)5 July 1981 (age 44) |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
| Alma mater | University of Applied Sciences, Worms |
Jan Metzler (born 5 July 1981) is a German politician who represents theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) in theBundestag, the German federal parliament. Metzler was first elected in the2013 election, gaining the constituency ofWorms, which had previously been held by theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) since its creation in1949.[1]
Metzler was born inWorms,West Germany in 1981. He came from a family of winemakers[2] and his sister had been German Wine Princess for 2007/2008.[2] Like his father, he trained to be a winemaker and studied Business Administration, gaining anMBA and a master's degree in International Management.[3]
Prior to his election to the Bundestag, Metzler had held a number of roles in his local party, serving as a member of the CDU District Executive forAlzey-Worms from 2000 to 2008, on the CDU district board forRheinhessen-Pfalz from 2001 onwards and as District Chairman of the Alzey-Worms branch of the CDU from 2003 to 2012.[4] His first public role came in 2004, when he was elected to Alzey-Worms district council.[4] Since 2004 he has served as Deputy Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in theWesthofen collective municipal council and Chairman of the CDU faction in theDittelsheim-Heßloch council.[4]
In addition to serving as a local councillor, Metzler subsequently spent five years as the international coordinator at the University of Applied Sciences of Worms and was responsible for supervising the student foreign exchange programs.[5]
He was selected as the CDU candidate for Worms in November 2012.[5] For the 2013 election, in addition to being a candidate for Worms, Metzler had been placed eleventh on the CDU list forRhineland-Palatinate[1] In the election, he increased the CDU vote share by 7% on an increased turnout and beat his SPD challengerMarcus Held.[6]
In parliament, Metzler serves on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy as well as on its Subcommittee on Regional Economic Development.
During the election campaign, Metzler opposed income tax rises and the creation of a nationalminimum wage, arguing thatcollective bargaining bytrade unions was a better way to achieve minimum wage standards than have it set by politicians.[7] He also called for greater support for middle-class people and opposed further increases ininheritance tax.[8]
In June 2017, Metzler voted against his parliamentary group’s majority and in favor of Germany’s introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[9]
