Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Last updated

Leader of the Social Democratic
Party
Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, Logo um 2000.svg
2019-09-10 SPD Regionalkonferenz Team Esken Walter-Borjans by OlafKosinsky MG 0453 (cropped).jpg 2021-12-07 Unterzeichnung des Koalitionsvertrages der 20. Wahlperiode des Bundestages by Sandro Halank-100.jpg
Incumbent
Saskia Esken (left)
Lars Klingbeil (right)
since 11 December 2021
Member ofFederal Executive
Federal Presidium
Inaugural holder Paul Singer
Formation1890
Deputy

The Leader of the Social Democratic Party (Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands) is the most senior political figure within the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Since December 2019, the office has been held jointly by Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans.

Contents

The Leader of the Social Democratic Party is supported by a General Secretary, which since December 2021 has been Kevin Kühnert. Furthermore, the leaders are supported by five deputy leaders, which currently are Klara Geywitz, Hubertus Heil, Kevin Kühnert, Serpil Midyatli, and Anke Rehlinger.

Selection

The Leader of Social Democratic Party is elected by Party conferences, usually with around 600 delegates representing all the state and local party chapters. To stand as leader, a candidate needs to be nominated by 90 "Ortsvereine", local chapters. It is unusual for more than one person to be nominated as party leader, as the decision who becomes leader is usually made behind the scenes within the Presidium and Federal Executive. This has drawn hefty criticism, so much so that in the last leadership election in April 2018, Simone Lange [1] challenged Andrea Nahles, the candidate nominated by the Federal Executive. This challenge, in German called "Kampfabstimmung" has only happened twice before; once in 1993 [2] and once in 1995. [3]

Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (1949–present)

A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1949. [4]

PortraitName
(Born–Died)		Term of officeStateChancellor
Took officeLeft officeDays
Leadership (1946–2019)
1 K.Schumacher.jpg Kurt Schumacher
(1895–1952)		11 May 194620 August 1952
(died in office)		6 years, 101 daysFlag of Lower Saxony.svg  Lower Saxony Konrad Adenauer
2 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-21272-0001, Erich Ollenhauer.jpg Erich Ollenhauer
(1901–1963)		27 September 195214 December 1963
(died in office)		11 years, 78 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Konrad Adenauer
Ludwig Erhard
3 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F057884-0009, Willy Brandt.jpg Willy Brandt
(1913–1992)		16 February 196414 June 198723 years, 118 daysFlag of Berlin.svg  Berlin Ludwig Erhard
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Himself
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Kohl
4 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079276-0009, Munster, SPD-Parteitag, Vogel (cropped).jpg Hans-Jochen Vogel
(1926–2020)		14 June 198729 May 19913 years, 349 daysFlag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg  Bavaria Helmut Kohl
5 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F080691-0010, Bjorn Engholm (cropped).jpg Björn Engholm
(born 1939)		29 May 19915 May 1993
(resigned)		1 year, 341 daysFlag of Schleswig-Holstein.svg  Schleswig-Holstein Helmut Kohl
Acting Johannes rau 2004-05-16 berlin-RZ.jpg Johannes Rau
(1931–2006)		5 May 199325 June 199351 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Helmut Kohl
6 Bundeswehr-Foto BVM012 Rudolf Scharping.jpg Rudolf Scharping
(born 1947)		25 June 199316 November 19952 years, 144 daysFlag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg  Rhineland-Palatinate Helmut Kohl
7 2017-03-26 Oskar Lafontaine by Sandro Halank-3.jpg Oskar Lafontaine
(born 1943)		16 November 199512 March 1999
(resigned)		3 years, 116 daysFlag of Saarland.svg  Saarland Helmut Kohl
Gerhard Schröder
8 Gerhard Schroder profile 2014.jpg Gerhard Schröder
(born 1944)		12 March 199921 July 20045 years, 131 daysFlag of Lower Saxony.svg  Lower Saxony Himself
9 Franz Muntefering (SPD) (10584414364).jpg Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		21 July 200415 March 2005
(resigned)		237 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Gerhard Schröder
10 Matthias-platzeck-ebw-01.jpg Matthias Platzeck
(born 1953)		15 March 200510 April 2006
(resigned)		1 year, 26 daysFlag of Brandenburg.svg  Brandenburg Gerhard Schröder
Angela Merkel
11 Kurt Beck.jpg Kurt Beck
(born 1949)		10 April 20067 September 2008
(resigned)		2 years, 150 daysFlag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
Acting Steinmeier Cropped (cropped).jpg Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(born 1956)		7 September 200818 October 200841 daysFlag of Lower Saxony.svg  Lower Saxony Angela Merkel
12
(9)		 Franz Muntefering (SPD) (10584414364).jpg Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		18 October 200813 November 20091 year, 26 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
13 MJK63118 Sigmar Gabriel (Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018).jpg Sigmar Gabriel
(born 1959)		13 November 200919 March 20177 years, 126 daysFlag of Lower Saxony.svg  Lower Saxony Angela Merkel
14 2017-09-14 Martin Schulz SPD 9489.jpg Martin Schulz
(born 1955)		19 March 201713 February 2018
(resigned)		331 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
Acting Olaf Scholz - Deutscher Radiopreis 2016 01.jpg Olaf Scholz
(born 1958)		13 February 201822 April 201868 daysFlag of Hamburg.svg  Hamburg Angela Merkel
15 2017-05-09 Andrea Nahles (re-publica 17) by Sandro Halank-17.jpg Andrea Nahles
(born 1970)		22 April 20183 June 2019
(resigned)		1 year, 42 daysFlag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
Co-Leadership (2019–present)
Acting 2017-06-25 Manuela Schwesig SPD Bundesparteitag by Olaf Kosinsky-16.jpg Manuela Schwesig
(born 1974)		3 June 201910 September 2019
(resigned)		99 daysFlag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.svg  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Angela Merkel
MJK 44115 Thorsten Schafer-Gumbel (Hessischer Landtag 2019).jpg Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel
(born 1969)		3 June 20191 October 2019
(resigned)		120 daysFlag of Hesse.svg  Hesse Angela Merkel
Malu Dreyer Re publica faces 2019 (47797689221).jpg Malu Dreyer
(born 1961)		3 June 20196 December 2019186 daysFlag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
16 Hart aber fair 2018-10-08-8555.jpg Norbert Walter-Borjans
(born 1952)		6 December 201911 December 20212 years, 5 daysFlag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
Olaf Scholz
2019-09-10 SPD Regionalkonferenz Team Esken Walter-Borjans by OlafKosinsky MG 0453 (cropped).jpg Saskia Esken
(born 1961)		6 December 201921 December 20214 years, 41 daysFlag of Baden-Wurttemberg.svg  Baden-Württemberg
1721 December 2021Incumbent
2021-12-07 Unterzeichnung des Koalitionsvertrages der 20. Wahlperiode des Bundestages by Sandro Halank-100.jpg Lars Klingbeil
(born 1978)		11 December 2021Incumbent2 years, 36 daysFlag of Lower Saxony.svg  Lower Saxony Olaf Scholz

See also

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References

  1. ↑ ""Pippi", "Bätschi", "in die Fresse" 90 Krawall-Sekunden mit Andrea Nahles - Video". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Peter, Christopher J. (13 June 2008). "Scharping als SPD-Chef: Schmalspur-Obama aus dem Westerwald". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. ↑ GRASSMANN, PHILIP (16 November 1995). "Oskar Lafontaine stürzt Scharping". DIE WELT. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Größen der Sozialdemokratie". Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) (in German). Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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