Ulrich Furler
Ulrich Furler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 28 June 2019 – 3 August 2021 | |
| Premier | Otto von Hößlin |
| Preceded by | Adolf Grönsfelder |
| Succeeded by | Anton Raicevich |
| Minister of Economy and Industry | |
| In office 27 June 2009 – 4 June 2011 | |
| Premier | Dietrich Wittmann |
| Preceded by | Uwe Hildebrandt |
| Succeeded by | Theophilus Specht |
| Minister of Social Affairs and Employment | |
| In office 18 May 1999 – 16 June 2003 | |
| Leader | Rasa Šimonytė |
| Preceded by | Lorenz Sternberg |
| Succeeded by | Timo Waibel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 June 1957 Kotzenberg, Roetenberg, Werania |
| Political party | National Consolidation Party |
| Spouse | Vanessa Buchardt |
| Alma mater | Imperial Academy of Weisstadt |
Other offices held
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Ulrich Furler (born 12 June 1957) is a Weranian politician who served as Minister of Defence (2019-2021), Minister of the Economy (2009-2011) and Minister of Social Affairs (1999-2003). Furler was a member of the House of Deputies from the 1987 election to 2015, when he opted to successfully run for the House of Councillors where he has sat in since. Throughout his political career Furler has been a member of the National Consolidation Party.
The son of a NKP politician Furler joined the party at a young age, quickly rising through the ranks. In 1987 he was elected to the Volkstag where he became a member of the neoconservative wing of the party supporting supply-side economics, a strongly interventionist foreign policy and social conservatism particularly in regards to issues surrounding migration and assimilation. Furler became a member of Rasa Šimonytė's first cabinet as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. Whilst in Social Affairs Furler attained a reputation for being tough on welfare fraud leading to a reorganisation in the ministry to cut back on social benefits. These moves were unpopular and in 2003 he was dropped from the Šimonytė cabinet. Whilst serving on the backbenches Furler soon became a prominent factional leader in the NKP, becoming a prominent voice for the pro-business, socially conservative faction within the party. His criticism of Šimonytė made him amongst the most high profile critics of the Chancellor within the governing party.
Furler returned to Cabinet in 2009 when the newly appointed Premier Dietrich Wittmann made him Minister of the Economy and Industry, where Furler promoted fiscally conservative and market driven policies in the aftermath of the 2005 financial crisis.
When the NKP re-entered opposition in 2011 Furler continued to operate as a prominent factional leader within the party, a trend that continued after his election to the House of Councillors in 2015. Following the 2015 federal election Furler strongly supported the candidature of Otto von Hößlin for NKP president, and has emerged as one of his strongest supporters. Furler was reappointed to cabinet in 2019 following the NKP's victory in elections that year in the post of Minister of Defence. In 2021 he resigned after being accused of a conflict of interest after lobbying the government to accept contracts from Volger GmbH, a company he previously worked for.
Furler is considered to be a conservative within the NKP strongly supporting free-market and socially conservative politics. He is said to be one of the most powerful men in the party as a de facto factional leader for the traditionalist right of the party. Furler has come criticism for his links to businesses which some have questioned as being corrupt, having sat on the boards of several companies from 2011 to 2019. Furler has dismissed such criticisms stating such roles were mostly unofficial and that he resigned from all corporate roles in 2019 when he became minister.