Berlin’s mayor abandons reelection campaign after ‘tennis-gate’ outcry

<p>Kai Wegner admits poor communication in handling of power blackout overshadowed his other political work</p><p>Berlin’s embattled mayor has abandoned his campaign to stand for reelection after failing to recover from a row over his decision to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/berlin-mayor-kai-wegner-calls-to-resign-playing-tennis-blackout-outage">play tennis while large parts of the German capital were hit by a power blackout</a> in January.</p><p>Kai Wegner announced on Friday afternoon that he would not run in Berlin’s 20 September election after coming under huge pressure to step down from his party, the Christian Democrats (CDU). Some members wrote an open letter to Wegner this week in which they appealed to him to withdraw his candidacy.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/10/berlin-mayor-abandons-reelection-campaign-after-tennis-gate-outcry">Continue reading...</a>