Saskia Christina Esken (' Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of 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 ...

(SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

in December 2019 (alongside

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 ...

) and re-elected in December 2021 (alongside

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as the party's Co-Leader since 2021, together with Saskia Esken. Klingbeil previously was the General Secretary of the Social Dem ...

). She has been a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

since 2013 and has been IT specialist in the early 1990s.

Early life and career

Esken was born 1961 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. After unfinished studies in literature and sociology, she obtained, in 1991, a professional certificate in IT. She worked in this field until the birth of her children in 1994.

Political career

Early beginnings

Esken entered the SPD in 1990.

Member of the German Parliament, 2013–present

Esken has been a member of the German

since the 2013 elections, representing

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled ''Kalb'' accordingly) is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the district Calw. It is located in the Northern Black Forest and is a ...

. In parliament, she served on the Committee on Internal Affairs (2018–2019), the Committee on the Digital Agenda (2013–2019), the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment (2013–2017) and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development (2013–2017). In this capacity, she was her parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

IT security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

, digital education, and

eGovernment E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new ...

. Within her parliamentary group, Esken was part of working groups on digital issues (since 2014) and on consumer protection (since 2018) as well as of the

Parlamentarische Linke The Parlamentarische Linke ( en, Parliamentary Left, abbreviated ''PL'') is a platform within the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)'s Bundestag group. As of 2022, 96 of the group's 206 members belong to the Parliamentary Left, making it th ...

(Parliamentary Left), an association of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

MPs. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

following the 2017 federal elections, Esken was part of the working group on digital policy, led

Helge Braun Helge Reinhold Braun (born 18 October 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Between 2018 and 2021, he served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the fourth coalition governmen ...

Dorothee Bär Dorothee Gisela Renate Maria Bär ( Mantel; born 19 April 1978) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. From 2014 to 2021, she served in various c ...

, and

Co-Chair of the SPD, 2019–present

Together with

, Esken announced her candidacy for the 2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election. During her campaign, she vowed to force Chancellor Merkel and her CDU/CSU bloc to renegotiate the coalition treaty or push for an “orderly retreat” from the government. Esken and Walter-Borjans won the November 2019 run-off against

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 th ...

and

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor of German ...

. Shortly after, both Esken and Walter-Borjans stepped back from their threat to pull out of Merkel’s government and instead signed off on a “compromise”, calling for measures including a “massive” investment program and a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

of 12 euros per hour. At the time, this was widely interpreted as a move designed to mend relations between leftwing and centrist factions in the SPD. In August 2020, Esken and Walter-Borjans released a joint statement announcing Olaf Scholz as the party’s candidate to succeed Merkel in the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

Other activities

Regulatory agencies

* Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Member of the advisory board (since 2018)

Non-profit organizations

* Stiftung Datenschutz, Member of the Strategic Advisory Board * ''Ein Netz für Kinder'', Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2014) * German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Member *

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, Member * German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member *

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ...

, Alternate Member of the Board of Trustees (2014-2018)

Political positions

In March 2019, Esken opposed the European Union's

Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, formally the Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96 ...

and its article 13. Also in 2019, Esken called repeatedly for a renegotiation of the 2018 coalition treaty on issues such as government spending and climate change policy. Following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Esken became the member of her Social Democrats’ leadership to call on

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

to quit the party when he kept defending his close ties to Russia’s leadership.

Controversy

In mid-2020, the Berlin attorney general's office received hundreds of complaints accusing Esken of slander for using the term "Covidiots" on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

; Esken had said that protesters at a Berlin march threatened the health of others by violating social distancing rules and ignoring requirements to wear face masks. The prosecutors dismissed the legal complaints, arguing that Esken was exercising her constitutional right to express her opinion.Merlin Sugue (2 September 2020)
German SPD leader allowed to call protesters ‘Covidiots,’ officials rule
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esken, Saskia Living people 1961 births Politicians from Stuttgart Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany