Not long ago, Fabian Mehring bragged on his social channels that the press liked to compare him with the young Markus Söder. After his promotion to Bavarian Digital Minister, there was another moment in which you had to look closely to see whether it was really Mehring speaking or not a young Söder. The Digital Ministry, said Mehring, is the “Ministry of the Future par excellence” and he himself is now the “architect for a modern Bavaria”. You have to know: When today’s Prime Minister Söder (CSU) got his first ministry in 2007, the small European department, he promoted himself to “Bavarian Foreign Minister”. Mehring (Free Voters) has observed this strategy closely. In the future he will be able to study Söder’s method up close.
Mehring is considered the greatest talent among the Free Voters. It is no surprise that FW boss Hubert Aiwanger is now making him a minister. In the leaflet affair, Mehring fervently threw himself before Aiwanger. He does what benefits him, that’s what a lot of people say about Mehring. He is considered a generalist and can speak eloquently on practically any topic. It has not yet been noticed that he is particularly passionate about digital. And it suits this man that at the moment of his promotion he is already thinking about the next step in his career. He also personally sees his role as digital minister as a “tremendous political opportunity,” said Mehring last Thursday. And he said with great significance what a “tremendous privilege” it was to be a minister at the age of 34.
It really is a rapid rise that Mehring has achieved. A climb that he planned meticulously. At the age of 18, Mehring joined the FW and founded the district association of the FW party youth in the Augsburg district. In 2014, he became parliamentary group leader in the Augsburg district council when he was in his mid-twenties. And when he made it to the Bavarian state parliament in autumn 2018, the FW parliamentary group made him directly parliamentary managing director. Mehring put everything into politics and also studied politics. “Fast track,” as he once said, in the fast lane. At the age of 29 he received his doctorate in “International Relations”.
You probably have to be obsessed to stand out alongside Söder and Aiwanger
The Corona crisis was an example of how Mehring does politics. When Prime Minister Söder didn’t want to hear about exit strategies, Mehring founded an “exit strategy” task force in the FW parliamentary group. He was hardly surprised that this brought him attention. Then, when Söder announced the first easing, Mehring immediately called for the next ones. In the CSU they found this brazen, as Mehring, as parliamentary secretary, sat on the coalition committee and was therefore able to assess what easing would soon be decided. That didn’t stop Mehring from later very publicly emphasizing whose pressure this easing of restrictions supposedly came about: his. “He is obsessed with taking place,” said someone who often sees him at the time.
But you probably have to be a bit obsessed to fit alongside the expansive egos of Söder and Aiwanger. Mehring succeeded. With audacity and rhetorical talent. He will also need his ability to use words to make himself bigger than he is in order to be perceived as digital minister. The ministry is a mini-department, hardly any competencies, hardly any staff, hardly any budget.
Mehring has already given an idea of what it sounds like when a mini-minister inflates his role. “Whoever is ahead has the chance to secure the top positions in tomorrow’s markets today,” said Mehring. He said this about digitalization. But probably also a little about yourself.