| Jan Metzler | |
| Office: | Member of the Bundestag |
| Birth Date: | 5 July 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Worms, West Germany |
| Party: | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
| Alma Mater: | University of Applied Sciences, Worms |
Jan Metzler (born 5 July 1981) is a German politician who represents the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament. Metzler was first elected in the 2013 election, gaining the constituency of Worms, which had previously been held by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) since its creation in 1949.[1]
Metzler was born in Worms, West Germany in 1981. He came from a family of winemakers[2] and his sister had been German Wine Princess for 2007/2008.[2] Like his father, he trained to be a winemaker and studied Business Administration, gaining an MBA and a master's degree in International Management.[3]
Prior to his election to the Bundestag, Metzler had held a number of roles in his local party, serving as a member of the CDU District Executive for Alzey-Worms from 2000 to 2008, on the CDU district board for Rheinhessen-Pfalz from 2001 onwards and as District Chairman of the Alzey-Worms branch of the CDU from 2003 to 2012.[4] His first public role came in 2004, when he was elected to Alzey-Worms district council.[4] Since 2004 he has served as Deputy Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Westhofen collective municipal council and Chairman of the CDU faction in the Dittelsheim-Heßloch council.[4]
In addition to serving as a local councillor, Metzler subsequently spent five years as the international coordinator at the University of Applied Sciences of Worms and was responsible for supervising the student foreign exchange programs.[5]
He was selected as the CDU candidate for Worms in November 2012.[5] For the 2013 election, in addition to being a candidate for Worms, Metzler had been placed eleventh on the CDU list for Rhineland-Palatinate[1] In the election, he increased the CDU vote share by 7% on an increased turnout and beat his SPD challenger Marcus Held.[6]
In parliament, Metzler serves on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy as well as on its Subcommittee on Regional Economic Development.
During the election campaign, Metzler opposed income tax rises and the creation of a national minimum wage, arguing that collective bargaining by trade unions was a better way to achieve minimum wage standards than have it set by politicians.[7] He also called for greater support for middle-class people and opposed further increases in inheritance tax.[8]
In June 2017, Metzler voted against his parliamentary group’s majority and in favor of Germany’s introduction of same-sex marriage.[9]