Christian Wullf is Germany’s president, a mostly titular position but constitutionally significant and with a high moral authority

Used to be Premier of one of the Federal states, got to be too much competition for Angela Merkel who grabbed the chance to sideline him when his predecessor as president resigned in a hissy-fit.

Press report in December about a question to him in the state parliament about his ties to an industrialist – did he have any commercial dealings with this person.

“No” was the answer.

Turns out that said industrialist’s WIFE had provided him with a 120% mortgage for his house, but they’re not “commercial dealings” and if they were, they were with industrialist’s wife.

Said industrialist then pops up and says actually, he and I negotiated the loan and we funneled it via the wife.

Wulff turns up weeks later on TV (PR disaster in itself, having just sacked his press secretary) and admits shamefacedly that he’d been a tad economical with the truth and it won’t happen again. Promise.

Next story is that he rolled over the mortgage to a bank which profited from a deal he’d sponsored with Porsche at a pittance of an interest rate.

No comment.

For days on end

Then the press reports that he’s called the chief editor and then the publisher of a major rag, trying to coerce them into burying the story. Even left a VOICEMAIL (FFS), threatening the publisher with war….

Same thing happened last year with another unfavourable report in another paper.

He’s on TV tonight, trying to convince people to believe him.

85% of people polled by Financial Times Deutschland want him gone..

Hands up over here, too.