Raed Saleh (born 10 June 1977) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He is serving as parliamentary leader of the SPD in the

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...

since 2011, and co-leader of the Berlin branch of the SPD since 2020.

Life

Saleh was born in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, in the town of Sebastia in the West Bank. His family moved to Germany in 1982, when Raed was five years old. His father found work in a wholesale bakery and his mother took care of their nine children. Saleh attended the Birkenhain elementary school and the Lily-Braun-Gymnasium in Spandau, from which he graduated in 1997. While in school, Saleh began working at

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

and, after dropping out of medical school, worked his way up from grill to management. After graduating from high school, he advanced to operations management at ''Mitrovski Fast Food GmbH'' in 1997, where he was a group executive from 2001 to 2006. He is the founder and co-owner of the online print shop Mandaro Media Company in

Hakenfelde Hakenfelde () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the borough (''Bezirk'') of Spandau. History The name ''Hakenfelde'' is derived a dairy-farm built in 1730 on the outskirts of Spandau. Part of the town of Spandau it merged into Ber ...

, founded in 2005. Saleh is married and has two sons. He is an avowed Muslim.

Political career

Saleh joined the Social Democratic Party in 1995 at the age of seventeen. In 2002, he was elected to the executive committee of the Spandau branch of the party, and in 2008 became chairman. He was elected to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin in 2006, winning the constituency of Spandau 2. In December 2011, he succeeded Michael Müller as parliamentary leader of the SPD in the Abgeordnetenhaus. After Klaus Wowereit announced his resignation as

Governing Mayor of Berlin The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Senate of Berlin, Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer ...

in August 2014, Saleh ran in the contest to succeed him. He competed against state chairman Jan Stöß and Senator for Urban Development Michael Müller. Saleh placed third with 19.6% of votes to Stöß's 20.8% and Müller's 59.1%. On 28 November 2020, Saleh was elected co-leader of the Berlin SPD alongside Franziska Giffey. He was approved with 68.7% of votes while Giffey won 89.4%. In the

2021 Berlin state election The 2021 Berlin state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Left, and The Greens led by Governing Mayor Michael M� ...

, Giffey was lead candidate and candidate for Governing Mayor, while Saleh was re-elected to a fourth term in the Spandau 2 constituency.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Raed 1977 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin 21st-century German politicians