It was formed after the 2018 Bavarian state election, by the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Free Voters (FW).

The previous cabinet was a majority government of the CSU led by Minister-President Markus Söder, who took office in March 2018.

The Free Voters remained the third-largest party with 12% of the vote, an improvement of two and a half percentage points.

The CSU met with each party except the AfD, initially expressing interest in both The Greens and Free Voters.

Söder stated that The Greens differed too much from the CSU on refugee and domestic security policy, while the FW held agreeable positions on important issues.