In 1992, Ulrich Daldrup joined the CDU in Aachen. By September 1993, he was elected chairman of the CDU Aachen and became their top candidate in 1994. In the municipal election of September 1994, Ulrich Daldrup brought the CDU back to power in Aachen and was elected the city's first mayor. In 1999, he was again nominated as the top candidate and won the municipal election once more with 49.5%. However, in the 1999 election for Lord Mayor of Aachen, he lost with 40.07% of the vote to the incumbent
Jürgen Linden, who received 52.54%. In 1999, he also became chairman of the MIT – Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsvereinigung (Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and Business Association). Ulrich Daldrup is a founding member of the Euregio Council Maas-Rhine and was one of the authors of its constitution. During his political career, he welcomed numerous heads of government and other dignitaries to Aachen, including the then German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl. After his tenure as Mayor of Aachen, Ulrich Daldrup took on the role of the Federal Government Commissioner (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy) for the Baltic States. For this position, he was delegated to Riga (Latvia) from 2000 until May 1, 2004, where he served at the rank of State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in Riga. He was responsible for preparing Latvia, in particular, for accession to the European Union in the areas of regional development and municipal administration. == Academic career ==