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 The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

. Since December 2019, the office has been held jointly by

Saskia Esken Saskia Christina Esken (' Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being elected in December 2019 (alongside Norbert Walter-Borjans) ...

and

Norbert Walter-Borjans Norbert Walter-Borjans (born 17 September 1952) is a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as co-leader of the SPD (alongside Saskia Esken) from 2019 to 2021. He served as State Minister of Finance of ...

. The Leader of the Social Democratic Party is supported by a General Secretary, which since December 2021 has been

Kevin Kühnert Kevin Kühnert (born 1 July 1989) is a German politician and the General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2021 elections, representing Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneb ...

. Furthermore, the leaders are supported by five deputy leaders, which currently are

Klara Geywitz Klara Geywitz (born 18 February 1976) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) serving as Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the Scholz cabinet since 2021. She served as member of the ...

Hubertus Heil Hubertus Heil (born 3 November 1972) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the first c ...

, Serpil Midyatli, and

Anke Rehlinger Anke Gabriele Rehlinger ('' né'' Moos; born 6 April 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as the Minister-President of Saarland since 25 April 2022. After her party won the 2022 state elec ...

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 Simone Lange (born 24 October 1976) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as elected mayor of Flensburg since 2017. Early life and career Lange grew up in Rudolstadt and completed her Abitur in 1995. After ...

challenged

Andrea Nahles Andrea Maria Nahles (born 20 June 1970) is a former German politician who has been the director of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) since 2022. Nahles is best known for having served as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from April 2 ...

, the candidate nominated by the Federal Executive. This challenge, in German called "Kampfabstimmung" has only happened twice before once in 1993 and once in 1995.

Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (1949–present)

A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1949.

References

{{SPDHeads Social Democratic Party Germany Lists of German politicians

Selection

Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (1949–present)

See also

References