Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Leader of the Social Democratic
Party
Incumbent
Andrea Nahles
since 22 April 2018
Member of Federal Executive
Federal Presidium
Inaugural holder Paul Singer
Formation 1890
Deputy Olaf Scholz
Manuela Schwesig
Malu Dreyer
Ralf Stegner
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel
Natascha Kohnen

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 22 April 2018, the office has been held by Andrea Nahles[1]; who is the first female leader of the party.

The Leader of the Social Democratic Party is supported by a General Secretary, which since December 2017 has been Lars Klingbeil. Furthermore, the leader is supported by six deputy leaders, which currently are Olaf Scholz, Manuela Schwesig, Malu Dreyer, Ralf Stegner, Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel and Natascha Kohnen

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 in the Presidium and Federal Executive. This has drawn hefty criticism, so much so that in the last leadership election in April 2018, Simone Lange[2] challenged Andrea Nahles, the candidate nominated by the Federal Executive. This challenge, in german called "Kampfabstimmung" has only happened twice before once in 1993[3] and once in 1995[4]

Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (1949–present)

A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1949[5].

Leader
(Birth–Death)		 Portrait State Took office Left office Chancellor
Kurt Schumacher
(1895–1952)		  Lower Saxony 11 May 1946 20 August 1952 Konrad Adenauer
Erich Ollenhauer
(1901–1963)		  North Rhine-Westphalia 27 September 1952 14 December 1963 Konrad Adenauer
Ludwig Erhard
Willy Brandt
(1913–1992)		  Berlin 16 February 1964 14 June 1987 Ludwig Erhard
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Himself
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Kohl
Hans-Jochen Vogel
(born 1926)
  Bavaria 14 June 1987 29 May 1991 Helmut Kohl
Björn Engholm
(born 1939)
  Schleswig-Holstein 29 May 1991 3 May 1993 Helmut Kohl
Johannes Rau
(1931–2006)
(Acting)		  North Rhine-Westphalia 3 May 1993 25 June 1993 Helmut Kohl
Rudolf Scharping
(born 1947)		  Rhineland-Palatinate 25 June 1993 16 November 1995 Helmut Kohl
Oskar Lafontaine
(born 1943)
  Saarland 16 November 1995 12 March 1999 Helmut Kohl
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
(born 1943)
  Lower Saxony 12 March 1999 21 March 2004 Himself
Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		  North Rhine-Westphalia 21 March 2004 15 November 2005 Gerhard Schröder
Matthias Platzeck
(born 1953)		  Brandenburg 15 November 2005 10 April 2006 Angela Merkel
Kurt Beck
(born 1949)		  Rhineland-Palatinate 10 April 2006 7 September 2008 Angela Merkel
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(born 1956)
(Acting)		  Lower Saxony 7 September 2008 18 October 2008 Angela Merkel
Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		  North Rhine-Westphalia 18 October 2008 13 November 2009 Angela Merkel
Sigmar Gabriel
(born 1959)		  Lower Saxony 13 November 2009 19 March 2017 Angela Merkel
Martin Schulz
(born 1955)		  North Rhine-Westphalia 19 March 2017 13 February 2018 Angela Merkel
Olaf Scholz
(born 1958)
(Acting)		  Hamburg 13 February 2018 22 April 2018 Angela Merkel
Andrea Nahles
(born 1970)		  Rhineland-Palatinate 22 April 2018 Incumbent Angela Merkel

See also

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "Personen". Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-23.
    2. ↑ Online, FOCUS. "„Pippi", „Bätschi", „in die Fresse" 90 Krawall-Sekunden mit Andrea Nahles - Video". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-23.
    3. ↑ Peter, Christopher J. (2008-06-13). "Scharping als SPD-Chef: Schmalspur-Obama aus dem Westerwald". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
    4. ↑ GRASSMANN, PHILIP (1995-11-16). "Oskar Lafontaine stürzt Scharping". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
    5. ↑ "Größen der Sozialdemokratie". Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-23.
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