It was formed after the resignation of Minister-President Horst Seehofer to become Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community; it was a continuation of the Christian Social Union (CSU) majority government formed after the 2013 Bavarian state election.

Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprised thirteen ministers and four state secretaries.

After the CSU suffered heavy losses in the 2017 German federal election, Seehofer announced he planned to resign as Minister-President in early 2018 and have the office to his finance minister Markus Söder.

[1] In March 2018, he announced his switch to federal politics after being nominated as Minister of the Interior in the fourth Merkel cabinet.

[3] Söder was elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 16 March, winning 99 votes out of 169 cast.