Christian Wolfgang Lindner is a German former politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was the Federal Minister of Finance from 2021 until his dismissal in 2024 during the 2024 German government crisis. Serving from 2013 to 2025, Lindner was the longest-serving party-leader of the FDP and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) for North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, previously holding a seat from 2009 until 2012. Lindner resigned as party leader and announced his retirement from active politics after the FDP dropped out of parliament as a result of the 2025 federal election. He is widely blamed for the inability of the party to enter the Bundestag in the election.