Stephan Weil (born 15 December 1958) is a German politician and the leader of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. On 20 January 2013, the SPD and the

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat. On 19 February 2013, he was elected

Minister President of Lower Saxony The Minister-President of Lower Saxony (german: Ministerpräsident des Landes Niedersachsen), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of Lower Saxony. The position was created in 1946, when the ...

with the votes of SPD and

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

. From 1 November 2013 until 31 October 2014 he was

President of the Bundesrat In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council (German: ''Bundesratspräsident'') is the chairperson (speaker) of the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The president is elected by the Bundesrat for a term of one year ...

and ''ex officio'' deputy to the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

. In November 2017, he was again elected

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...

with the votes of SPD and CDU.

Early life and education

Weil has lived in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

since 1965, where he completed the

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gymnasium. After his mandatory community service in 1978 he began a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, which he finished with his first

state examination The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, p ...

in 1983. He then worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in Hanover, and later a

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

in the Lower Saxony ministry of justice. In 1994, Weil became a member of the

ministerial council Ministerial council or joint ministerial council can refer to: * EU–GCC Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting, the regular joint ministerial meeting between the European Union and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf * Franco- ...

of Lower Saxony.

Political career

In his early years, Weil served as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the SPD

Jusos Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (german: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Jungsozialistinnen und Jungsozialisten in der SPD, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As of 2021, there are over ...

in Hanover. From 1997 until late October 2006 he held the office of the

city treasurer The municipal treasurer is a position of responsibility for a municipality according to the locally prevailing laws. The treasurer of a public agency is elected CDU politician Dirk Topeffer and Ingrid Wagemann of

. He won an absolute majority in the first round. He succeeded Herbert Schmalstieg, the mayor of Hanover for 34 years on 1 November 2006. Weil held the office for 7 years, up to 2013 state election. Due to legal restrictions, Weil was automatically removed from the office of mayor when he became Minister President of Lower Saxony on 19 February 2013. From 29 January 2008 to 2011, Weil monthly answered questions from citizens in the TV program ''Warum Herr Weil'' (Why Mr. Weil) which airs every third Tuesday every month on HR Fernsehen. On 18 September 2011 Weil announced that he would apply for the top candidate of the SPD for the 2013 state election in Lower Saxony. He was elected as the top candidate with 53.3% of votes on 27 September 2011. On 20 January 2012 he was voted as the chairman of SPD Lower Saxony. In March, Weil was unanimously chosen as the SPD direct candidate for the

- Buchholz constituency. On the state convention in

Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...

, Weil placed first with 98.95%.

Minister-President of Lower Saxony, 2013–present

Just weeks before the state election, opinion polls indicated that Weil, with the help of the Greens, would easily defeat incumbent

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

David McAllister David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. He is the current Vice Pre ...

. After McAllister's Christian-liberal coalition had been considered to be the winner until late in the night, Weil's red-green coalition eventually won the election by a wafer-thin majority, resulting in a narrow majority of just one vote in the state parliament. At the time, his victory constituted the twelfth consecutive setback in a state vote for

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 ...

’s CDU party and therefore was widely interpreted as indicative for the national elections later that year. Early on in his tenure, Weil emphasized consolidating Lower Saxony's finances. As Lower Saxony has a 20 percent stake in

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

(VW), Weil has been an ex-officio member of the company's supervisory board since February 2013. Within the supervisory board, he serves on the mediation and the nomination committees. Only a few months after Weil took office, Germany won a decisive victory over the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

in its bid to preserve state influence at VW, when the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

rejected an attempt by the commission to abolish a state veto over key decisions such as factory closures, mergers and acquisitions. In August 2017, Weil called for parliament to be dissolved a few months early and new elections to be held (elections had been planned for 2018), after one deputy,

Elke Twesten Elke Twesten (born July 7, 1963 in Scheeßel) is a German politician for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU in Lower Saxony who switched parties from the Alliance 90/The Greens in 2017. Career Twesten previously worked in the Hambu ...

, who had not been nominated for reelection by the Green Party, had quit her party and joined the CDU in the opposition, costing his coalition government its one-seat parliamentary majority. This had endangered Weil's position because it hypothetically would have enabled the CDU to elect their leader

Bernd Althusmann Bernd Althusmann (; born 3 December 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Deputy Minister-President and State Minister for Economic Affairs in the government of Minister-President Stephan Weil from 2 ...

as Minister President by a motion of no confidence. Prior to the election, the SPD and its coalition had been in very low approval and poll ratings, but following this event the party won the election by a wide margin over the CDU, strongly improving their own result and winning many usual Greens voters for their best result since

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 Germany ...

in 1998. Nonetheless, the red-green coalition lost its majority by two seats due to the weakened Greens, even though the two parties came much nearer to a majority than deemed possible in the latest polls. Despite the rough election campaign between SPD and CDU and heavy accusations over the party affiliation change as a manipulative move to bypass voters and shift the parliamentary majority, Weil succeeded in negotiating and forming a grand coalition with the CDU and Althusmann after the election. In November 2017, he was again elected

with the votes of SPD and CDU.

Role in national politics

In his capacity as Minister-President, Weil was elected

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the Bundesrat from 1 March 2013, and served as

from November 2013 to October 2014. On the Bundesrat, he is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and deputy chairman of the Committee on European Affairs. In the negotiations to form a ''

Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

'' of

's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Weil was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on energy policy, led by

Peter Altmaier Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German lawyer and CDU politician who served as Acting Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2018 and as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Federal Mi ...

and

Hannelore Kraft Hannelore Kraft (''née'' Külzhammer; born 12 June 1961) is a German politician. She served as the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017. Kraft was the first woman to serve as head of government of this state and was ...

. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition (german: Ampelkoalition) is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' tra ...

of the SPD, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2021 federal elections, Weil was part of his party's delegation in the working group on climate change and energy policy, co-chaired by Matthias Miersch,

Oliver Krischer Oliver Krischer (born 26 July 1969) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as State Minister for Environment, Nature Protection, and Transport in the government of Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphali ...

and Lukas Köhler. Weil was nominated by his party as delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

for the purpose of electing the

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Other activities

Corporate boards

Deutsche Messe AG Deutsche Messe AG (german: German Trade Fair Limited, links=no) is the operating company for the Hanover Fairground, based in the city of Hanover, Germany. It is the largest trade fair operator in Germany and was founded in 1947. One of the main ...

, chairman of the supervisory board (2009–2012) * Sparkasse Hannover, chairman of the supervisory board (2006–2013)

Non-profit organizations

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, member of the political advisory board (since 2018)Bernd Westphal wird neuer Beirats-Vorsitzender beim Wirtschaftsforum der SPD
Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 7 June 2018. * Robert Enke Foundation, chairman of the board of trustees *

Kestner Gesellschaft Kestner Gesellschaft (Kestner Society) is an art institution in Hanover, Germany, founded in 1916 to promote the arts. Its founders included the painter Wilhelm von Debschitz (1871–1948). The association blossomed under the management of and , ...

, member of the board of trustees * ''Freundeskreis Hannover'', member of the board of trustees *

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

, member of the board of trustees *

Hannover Medical School The Hannover Medical SchoolAlthough the English spelling of the city name is "Hanover", this form of the name, using the German spelling of the city name, is used as the English-language name of the school, for example . (german: Medizinische Ho ...

, member of the board of trustees * German Association of Local Utilities (VKU), president (2007–2012) *

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, member

Personal life

In 1987, Weil married

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

expert Rosemarie Kerkow-Weil (born 1954), the former president of

Leibniz University Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

who teaches at the HAWK Hochschule Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen. They have one son.

References

External links

Official website

Biography
on spd-kibewue.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Weil, Stephan 1958 births Living people Mayors of Hanover Presidents of the German Bundesrat Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians University of Göttingen alumni Ministers-President of Lower Saxony Politicians from Hamburg