Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

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.

Leader of the Social Democratic
Party
Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands
Incumbent
Saskia Esken (left)
Lars Klingbeil (right)
since 11 December 2021
Member ofFederal Executive
Federal Presidium
Inaugural holderPaul Singer
Formation1890
Deputy

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]

Portrait Name
(Born–Died)		 Term of office State Chancellor
Took office Left office Days
Leadership (1946–2019)
1 Kurt Schumacher
(1895–1952)		 11 May 1946 20 August 1952
(died in office)		 6 years, 101 days  Lower Saxony Konrad Adenauer
2 Erich Ollenhauer
(1901–1963)		 27 September 1952 14 December 1963
(died in office)		 11 years, 78 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Konrad Adenauer
Ludwig Erhard
3 Willy Brandt
(1913–1992)		 16 February 1964 14 June 1987 23 years, 118 days  Berlin Ludwig Erhard
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Himself
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Kohl
4 Hans-Jochen Vogel
(1926–2020)		 14 June 1987 29 May 1991 3 years, 349 days  Bavaria Helmut Kohl
5 Björn Engholm
(born 1939)		 29 May 1991 5 May 1993
(resigned)		 1 year, 341 days  Schleswig-Holstein Helmut Kohl
Acting Johannes Rau
(1931–2006)		 5 May 1993 25 June 1993 51 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Helmut Kohl
6 Rudolf Scharping
(born 1947)		 25 June 1993 16 November 1995 2 years, 144 days  Rhineland-Palatinate Helmut Kohl
7 Oscar Lafontaine
(born 1943)		 16 November 1995 12 March 1999
(resigned)		 3 years, 116 days  Saarland Helmut Kohl
Gerhard Schröder
8 Gerhard Schröder
(born 1944)		 12 March 1999 21 July 2004 5 years, 131 days  Lower Saxony Himself
9 Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		 21 July 2004 15 March 2005
(resigned)		 237 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Gerhard Schröder
10 Matthias Platzeck
(born 1953)		 15 March 2005 10 April 2006
(resigned)		 1 year, 26 days  Brandenburg Gerhard Schröder
Angela Merkel
11 Kurt Beck
(born 1949)		 10 April 2006 7 September 2008
(resigned)		 2 years, 150 days  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
Acting Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(born 1956)		 7 September 2008 18 October 2008 41 days  Lower Saxony Angela Merkel
12
(9)		 Franz Müntefering
(born 1940)		 18 October 2008 13 November 2009 1 year, 26 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
13 Sigmar Gabriel
(born 1959)		 13 November 2009 19 March 2017 7 years, 126 days  Lower Saxony Angela Merkel
14 Martin Schulz
(born 1955)		 19 March 2017 13 February 2018
(resigned)		 331 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
Acting Olaf Scholz
(born 1958)		 13 February 2018 22 April 2018 68 days  Hamburg Angela Merkel
15 Andrea Nahles
(born 1970)		 22 April 2018 3 June 2019
(resigned)		 1 year, 42 days  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
Co-Leadership (2019–present)
Acting Manuela Schwesig
(born 1974)		 3 June 2019 10 September 2019
(resigned)		 99 days  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Angela Merkel
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel
(born 1969)		 3 June 2019 1 October 2019
(resigned)		 120 days  Hesse Angela Merkel
Malu Dreyer
(born 1961)		 3 June 2019 6 December 2019 186 days  Rhineland-Palatinate Angela Merkel
16 Norbert Walter-Borjans
(born 1952)		 6 December 2019 11 December 2021 2 years, 5 days  North Rhine-Westphalia Angela Merkel
Olaf Scholz
Saskia Esken
(born 1961)		 6 December 2019 21 December 2021 3 years, 318 days  Baden-Württemberg
17 21 December 2021 Incumbent
Lars Klingbeil
(born 1978)		 11 December 2021 Incumbent 1 year, 313 days  Lower Saxony Olaf Scholz

See also

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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