The candidates vying to replace Angela Merkel as she steps down as CDU leader after 18 years

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz, and Jens Spahn all in race

Angela Merkel bids her party a farewell (AP)

Angela Merkel has bid her party farewell in an emotional address at its congress in Hamburg.

The German chancellor is staying in her post leading the country, but is standing aside from her role leading her party. She has said she will not stand in elections again.

Here is a look at the runners and riders to replace her as CDU leader.

Whoever wins will be favourite to replace her as chancellor at the party’s next elections.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (EPA)

Known to German political insiders as AKK, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer is the favourite to replace Merkel as leader of the CDU. Polls suggest she has a commanding lead among party members.

A moderate within the Christian Democrats, she broadly shares her boss’s moderately liberal politics and is currently the party’s general secretary, having previously run the state of Saarland.

Ms Merkel has specifically said she won’t endorse a candidate in the coming CDU leadership election, but if she had, most observers would have expected it to be AKK.

During her farewell speech on Friday ahead of the vote, Ms Merkel hinted as much: praising her electoral performance as chief of Saarland and giving a nod to her liberalism.

Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz (AFP/Getty Images)

Mr Merz hasn’t been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, but that hasn’t stopped him from throwing his hat into the ring to replace his long-term rival.

A former leader of the CDU’s parliamentary group, Mr Merz was seen as Ms Merkel’s CDU competitor in the earlier years of her premiership. But he was ruthlessly sidelined after the pair fell out and her power became unassailable.

If he does come back he would be expected to stand as an MP again in the 2021 elections. Since leaving politics, he has built a career in the private sector and works for US company Blackrock.

He also has the official backing of powerful ex-finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

Jens Spahn

Jens Spahn (Reuters) (REUTERS)

The third candidate for the job, Jens Spahn, is Germany’s health minister in Angela Merkel’s cabinet. He has publicly spoken out against the chancellor welcoming the refugee policy, arguing that the CDU had “perhaps put too much emphasis on the humanitarian approach”.

An economic liberal who supports tax cuts and a smaller state, the minister, as a gay Roman Catholic, is generally seen as a social conservative.

But he has softened his image on some issues, such as same-sex marriage, which he fought for in defiance of his party.