Ursula von der Leyen has clinched the presidency of the European Commission by a razor-thin margin of nine votes. The nomination, earlier this month, of Von der Leyen, the former defence minister of Germany, to the helm of the European Union’s executive arm, involved very little magic. But for the new European Parliament, which had fielded better-known candidates who actually campaigned for the job, she was a mean trick. With von der Leyen, the pendulum has already swung back. She is a rarity in German politics, in that she came to the game late, when she was 42, following a career in medicine.

Source: Irish Examiner July 17, 2019 23:02 UTC