Frank Henkel (born 16 November 1963) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a Mayor and Senator of the Interior and Sports of the German state of Berlin from 2011 until 2016. From 2008 Henkel was the opposition leader in the Abgeordnetenhaus, the state parliament of Berlin, in which he has been an MP since 31 October 2001. In 2011 he led the CDU back into the government as the junior partner in an SPD-led coalition. Early life and career Henkel was born and raised in East Berlin and attended Polytechnic Secondary School. He began an apprenticeship after school, but in 1981 the family moved to West Berlin, after their request for departure was granted. In West Berlin he completed vocational training as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant in 1984 and worked for two years at the Friedrich Krupp AG. From 1986 to 1987 he attended technical secondary school and studied economic and social sciences at Berlin School of Economics and Law afterwards. In 1994 he graduated as a Diplom-Kaufmann (German business administration degree, similar to MBA). In addition, he graduated in public relations at German Academy for Public Relations in Frankfurt and in journalism at Free University Berlin. Political career Since 1985 Henkel was a member of Junge Union, since 1986 of the CDU. Between 1987 and 2005 he held various political offices in the CDU. He also worked as a speaker in the executive staff of the district mayor of Reinickendorf, Berlin, from 1996 to 2001. In January 2001 he became office manager of Berlin mayor Eberhard Diepgen and in June 2001 office manager of the CDU parliamentary group leader in the Abgeordnetenhaus. In October 2001 he was elected MP in Berlin. In May 2005 Henkel also was elected Secretary General of the Berlin CDU, serving under the leadership of successive chairmen Ingo Schmitt and Joachim Zeller. From September 2008, he was led the opposition as chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus. In November 2008, he succeeded Zeller as chairman of the state CDU. Senator of the Interior and Sports, 2011–2016 In 2011 Henkel became frontrunner in the 2011 Berlin state elections and led the CDU back into the state government. In March 2016 he was nominated again as the leading candidate of the CDU for the 2016 Berlin state elections. As one of Berlin's representatives at the