Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider has said he wants Lars Klingbeil to remain chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He trusted Klingbeil and hoped he would carry on, Schneider told the Funke media group. But he did not want to put pressure on anyone. Earlier, former Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil had announced his candidacy for the party leadership.
The chairman of the SPDparliamentary group in the Bundestag, Matthias Miersch, also supports Klingbeil staying at the helm of the party. He still considered him a good chairman, Miersch told the Funke newspapers. At the same time, he warned against expecting one person at the top to change everything.
Whether Klingbeil will stand again at the party conference in January remains unclear. Alongside his role as party chairman, he is Federal Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor. According to Tagesschau, even before Schneider and Miersch spoke out, Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig and Federal Construction Minister Verena Hubertz had also backed Klingbeil standing again.
Heil announced his bid in a letter to the party executive, state executives and working groups on 14 November. He wanted to devote himself fully to the party leadership. In his view, the SPD could only regain strength if it became more visible as a party and developed clear policies and new ideas. Heil was the first politician to publicly announce his candidacy for the forthcoming election.
There has long been debate within the party about whether government roles and the party leadership at federal level should be held by different people. Klingbeil currently combines these roles. In the previous government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, they were separate: Scholz held no party position, while the party chairs at the time, Saskia Esken and Klingbeil, held no government posts.
The party leadership is due to be re-elected at a party conference on 16 and 17 January 2027 in Bremen . The meeting was brought forward following the resignation of Bärbel Bas as party chair and Federal Labour Minister in October. Since then, Klingbeil has led the party alone. The party presidium and executive committee intend to present a personnel proposal by 16 December at the latest.
It is also unclear whether Heil will run alongside a woman for a dual leadership. According to Vorwärts, the party statutes currently provide for such a leadership arrangement, but a party conference could change them. Whether Heil and Klingbeil will stand directly against each other depends first on Klingbeil's decision.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).