Ursula von Der Leyen has been warned she will need to win the support of a large number of Socialists and Democrats MEPs to become the next President of the European Commission. Mrs von Der Leyen became the European Council's lead candidate after several days of intense discussion among European Union leaders to name the next leaders of top EU institutions. Speaking to Euronews, political editor Darren McCaffrey said: "A big task for Ursula von Der Leyen over the next week or so is to try and get the numbers up.