The party leader of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, will not run for chancellor in next year’s election, and is stepping down from her leadership post, German media reported on Monday. She will remain defence minister. The 57-year-old was handpicked by Merkel to run as her successor for chancellor, but AKK, as she is known, has struggled to consolidate her authority in the party.