Ursula von der Leyen gets family-friendly rebrand ahead of elections

Ursula von der Leyen with her seven children – ullstein bild

Almost three years ago, Ursula von der Leyen posed for a photograph doting over her first-born grandchild.

“#ProudGrandma” read the caption – giving a rare glimpse into the personal life of Europe’s most powerful woman, who has seven children.

At that point, the German politician had been the European Commission’s president for little under 18 months, earning herself a reputation as a pandemic-hardened crisis manager.

In the preceding years, Mrs von der Leyen’s Instagram feed was filled with pictures more akin to a professional politician – posing with colleagues at international gatherings, staring intensely at the next pioneering breakthrough or taking selfies with other people’s children.

Gone was the fun side that saw her scooped out of a wheelie bin by Hugh Jackman on a TV chat show in 2008, back when she was Germany’s family minister.

Ursula von der Leyen pictured in 2005 with her husband Heiko, and their seven children. Left to right: Donata, Egmont, David, Victoria, Sophie, Johanna and Gracia on their Pony Ranja – JOCHEN LUEBKE/DDP/AFP/GETTY

Her public image was crafted exceptionally carefully, as a competent and diligent head of the Commission – so much so that she decided to redesign her office in the Berlaymont HQ to include a purpose-built flat.

But now that has all changed and #proudgrandma is making a comeback.

Three years ago, the mother of seven posted a photo of herself and her first grandchild on Instagram and now, #proudgrandma is making a comeback

With recent polling by the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations suggesting anti-EU populists will dominate in 18 of the 27 EU member states in continent-wide elections in June, the team behind Mrs von der Leyen has sought to give her a rebrand.

They are in the midst of remodelling her into a politician with traditional, conservative family values – an area that anti-Brussels nationalists have used to bash the bloc for many years.

“As a mother of seven, I want my children’s children to grow in a safe, prosperous Europe,” her glitzy campaign website declares.

The same line has been used in multiple speeches and repeated at the Maastricht debate, which is the first contest between her competitors for the role of Commission president.

Alexander Winterstein, the spokesman for Mrs von der Leyen’s campaign, told reporters that there was, indeed, a “personal” element to the bid to be reappointed.

“People know her as Commission president,” he said. “What people may know less about is who she actually is as a person. Who is Ursula von der Leyen?”

Get ready to see the European Commission’s president’s fun side once again – CTK / Alamy Live News/https://www.alamy.com

Mrs von der Leyen remains favourite to be selected by EU leaders for a second five-year term in charge of the bloc’s Brussels-based executive. But to get there, she will need the approval of a majority of MEPs in the European Parliament, which is expected to shift to the right.

Over the past few months, there have been subtle changes to Mrs von der Leyen’s policies. The EU’s Green Deal pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2050 has recently been watered down to be kinder to angry farmers, whose cause have long been championed by eurosceptic and nationalist parties.

Furthermore, there is now a much tougher stance on migration, that has seen the introduction of rules allowing for detention at the EU’s borders.

The president of the European Commission hopes for “a safe, prosperous Europe” as part of her re-election campaign

Earlier this year, the president of the European Commission suggested she would happily work with the Right-wing ECR group, which contains Brussels-bashing, nationalist politicians from Poland, Spain and Italy.

Her own centre-Right EPP, which has gradually crept further to the right, might even need the support of the ECR to form a conservative bloc in the European Parliament.

Ursula von der Leyen’s campaign website

Austrian MEP Thomas Waitz, a Green MEP who endorsed Mrs von der Leyen in 2019, now has reservations over her direction. He told The Telegraph: “It is clearly a reaction to the relative strength of far-Right movements and populism.

“I was starting this mandate in the European Parliament with quite some respect for her, acknowledging that big majorities in the European population were finally demanding ambitious climate policies. She was reading the signs right… What is really disappointing me is how much she has turned against her own legacy. The fact she has turned from a birth-giver to grave-digger on the Green Deal is very disappointing.”

“I’m really asking myself whether I can put my trust in her again,” Mr Waitz added, as he cast doubt over whether he would endorse her candidacy again.

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