Ilse Aigner (born 7 December 1964) is a German politician and member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Aigner was born in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Bavaria, and entered Angela Merkel's grand coalition cabinet as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on 31 October 2008. She succeeded Horst Seehofer, who had become Minister President of Bavaria. She left her position on 30 September 2013 after being elected as a member of the Bavarian parliament. From 2013, she served as Deputy Minister-President of Bavaria. In addition, she served as State Minister of Economic Affairs; and Media, Energy and Technology (2013–2018) and State Minister of Construction and Transport (2018). After Horst Seehofer resigned as Minister President in order to become Federal Minister of the Interior on 14 March 2018, Aigner became acting Minister President until the election of Markus Söder as Minister President. After the 2018 Bavarian State elections, she was elected as President of the Bavarian Landtag, succeeding longterm president Barbara Stamm who lost her seat in the election. Education and professional background Aigner completed a professional training as a telecommunications technician in 1985 and joined the electrical installation business of her parents. In 1990 she graduated from the technical academy with the degree of a State Certified Engineer and worked for several years for Eurocopter in the development of helicopter electric systems. Aigner was elected first in 1994 to the Bavarian State Parliament. Member of the German Bundestag, 1998–2013 From 1998 Aigner was a member of the German Bundestag, winning always an absolute majority of the votes in her electoral district. From 2002 to 2005, she was a member of the Budget Committee, where she served as her parliamentary group's rapporteur on the budgets of the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (BMELV) and the aerospace technology portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). From 2005 to 2008, she served as her parliamentary group’s spokesperson for education and research policy. Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, 2008–2013 Aigner was a little-known member of parliament with no previous ministerial experience when she took over as Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008, replacing Horst Seehofer. During her time in office, Aigner steered through a 2011 dioxins scare that saw contaminated eggs and meat from Germany going to six neighbouring countries. In response, she