FILE PHOTO: German Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn speaks during an interview with Reuters in Berlin, Germany October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Joachim Herrmann/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Health Minister Jens Spahn, a critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has told fellow conservatives he wanted to succeed Merkel as party leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), sources told Reuters on Monday.

Spahn, 38, announced his decision to candidate for the party chair during a closed-door meeting of senior CDU party members in Berlin, the sources said.

CDU party secretary general Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer also wants to succeed Merkel as party leader at a convention in December, party sources told Reuters earlier on Monday.