Do we like Ursula von der Leyen?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Clear, on-the-record support for LGBTQ+ people and a push on Gaza, held back by a hardline deportation agenda and a transparency stoush she lost in court.
Ursula von der Leyen was born in Brussels in 1958, the daughter of a senior EU official turned state premier. She trained as a doctor, joined Angela Merkel's CDU, and worked up through a string of German ministries. She was the first woman to run Germany's defence ministry, then in 2019 the first woman to lead the European Commission.
The defence years were her messiest. At a 2020 parliamentary inquiry she was accused of ignoring procurement rules and of letting official phones be wiped; she denied irregularities. She did admit mistakes were made in procurement and that big money went to outside consultants, but opposition MPs said she never named concrete failures.
The Pfizer texts are the stain that followed her to Brussels. In May 2025 the EU General Court ruled against the Commission in a case brought by the New York Times, saying it gave no plausible explanation for failing to find her messages with Pfizer's boss. The Commission said it would give a fuller justification rather than release them, and she has since survived several no-confidence votes, including a fourth in January 2026.
On the harm test, her record on LGBTQ+ people is strong. In June 2025 she told Hungary to lift its Budapest Pride ban without penalties for participants, and told the community “I will always be your ally.” In April 2026 the EU's top court found Hungary's child protection law discriminates against gay and trans people and ordered it repealed. That was the court's ruling, but it was her Commission's fight.
The asterisk is migration. Her Commission is backing a Return Regulation that would allow deportations to third-country return hubs and detention of up to two years. More than 250 civil society groups want it rejected, and critics say it legitimises offshore prisons and child detention. Supporters say the current return rate of around 29 percent is too low. On climate, the Greens told Parliament in September that the Commission is doing the opposite of what it promised.
On the good side, she proposed sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers and a partial suspension of trade terms with Israel over Gaza, saying “For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity -- this must stop.” She also called the return of children abducted from Ukraine “a crucial element that must be part of any agreement.” Both are positions that need member states to sign on, and where you land on them depends on your view of the wider politics.