Thomas Strobl (born 17 March 1960) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Deputy Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2016. From 1998 until 2016 Strobl was a member of the German Bundestag. In 2011 he was elected chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg, succeeding Stefan Mappus. In 2012 he was elected one of five vice federal chairmen of the CDU party in Germany. Early life and education Strobl grew up in Heilbronn. His father was an accountant with the salt mines in Heilbronn, known as Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, a state-owned enterprise. After high school diploma he studied law at Heidelberg University. In 1985 he completed the first, and after postgraduate studies in Speyer in 1988 the second state examination in Heidelberg. He then was a research fellow at Heidelberg University and from 1992 to 1996 a Parliamentary Advisor at the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. From 1996 he has worked as a lawyer. In 2001, he co-founded a law firm with Alexander Throm. Member of the Bundestag, 1998–2016 Strobl first became of a Member of the German Bundestag in the 1998 national elections. From 1998 to 2009, he served on the Committee for the Scrutiny of Elections, Immunity and the Rules of Procedure, which he chaired from 2005. Between 2009 and 2013, he was also a member of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. From 2009, he also led the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from Baden-Württemberg, one of the largest delegations within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. At state level, Strobl served as Secretary General of the CDU Baden-Württemberg from 2005 to 2011, under party chairmen Günther Oettinger (2005-2009) and Stefan Mappus (2009-2011). In this capacity, he participated in the coalition talks with both the liberal Free Democratic Party and the Green Party following the 2006 state elections and managed the CDU election campaign in 2011. Since 2011, Strobl has been chairman of the CDU in the state of Baden-Württemberg. In addition, he was elected vice chairman of the CDU in 2012 and has since been serving in the party's national leadership under successive chairwomen Angela Merkel (2012-2018) and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (since 2018). In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) following the