It was formed after the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election by Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the Greens and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann.

The election took place on 13 March 2016, and resulted in a significant swing toward the Greens, who became the largest party.

The SPD and opposition CDU both suffered major losses, and the AfD debuted at 15%.

[4][5] Kretschmann was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on 12 May, winning 82 votes of 142 cast.