Minister Laumann used company cars the most

Last year, NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) covered more than 100,000 kilometers with his company car. The politician thus shows the most annual kilometers among the cabinet members in North Rhine-Westphalia, as can be seen from a response from the state government to a small request from the AfD parliamentary group. Laumann’s Audi A8 therefore had a total of 107.452 kilometers on the counter last year.

In second place is the then Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU). Until he left office at the end of October, he could not surpass the annual kilometers of the Minister of Health. As head of government, Laschet had two cars at his disposal – which together drove 93,152 kilometers for him.

Economy Minister Andreas Pinkwart (FDP) comes in third place with 65,174 annual kilometers. Justice Minister Peter Biesenbach (CDU) follows in fourth place with 61,998 kilometers.

Already in 2020, Laumann was at the top of the mileage list among the cabinet members with more than 100,000 kilometers. The NRW Ministry of Health stated on request that the longer distances had resulted, among other things, from the many appointments on site. For Laumann, personal contact with people, institutions and associations is a special concern, said a spokeswoman.

From the point of view of the Ministry of Health, the kilometers traveled by government members are also difficult to compare with each other. The annual distance traveled depends, for example, on whether the cabinet members “have a residence that is relatively centrally located in the country,” the spokeswoman said. Laumann had to commute about 160 kilometers between his hometown of Hörstel-Riesenbeck and the Düsseldorf Ministry.

The fewest kilometers – namely 18,362 – were covered by Minister of Education Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) last year. Finance Minister Lutz Lienenkämper (CDU) also drove comparatively little in his company car with 27,274 kilometers.