Bavarian conservative chief quits

Erwin Huber said he wanted to give the CSU the chance for a fresh start

The head of Bavaria's governing Christian Social Union, Erwin Huber, is resigning after the party's worst election performance in decades.

The CSU got just 43.4% in the state election - its worst result since 1954. The party had enjoyed an absolute majority in Bavaria for 46 years.

The result is a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel whose Christian Democrats are allied with the CSU nationally.

Mr Huber said his departure would give the CSU the chance for a fresh start.

He said he would step down on 25 October at a CSU congress. He has led the party for only a year.

He is likely to be replaced by the party vice-chairman and federal agriculture minister Horst Seehofer, party members said.

Correspondents say the CSU's performance in the Bavaria poll is a worrying development for conservative forces in Germany in the run-up to a national election in a year's time.

Social Democratic Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to challenge Mrs Merkel for the post of chancellor in national elections in September 2009.

He described the Bavarian result as a political "earthquake".

Mr Huber said it was "a black day for the CSU" and his colleague, state premier Guenther Beckstein, said the party would now have to "bite into the sour apple" and form a coalition.