SPD to elect entire leadership at Bremen congress on 16 and 17 January after Bas quits
Bärbel Bas has stepped down as SPD co-chair and labour minister, and the party plans to elect its entire leadership at a congress in Bremen in mid-January.
Bas steps down amid personal strain
Co-chair Bärbel Bas gave up all of her offices on Monday, 12 October, including her post as labour minister. She cited personal and political strain and said that, after the death of her stepdaughter, she needed time to process her grief. She also criticised public attacks on her, some of them coming from the coalition partner, and asked Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) to release her from office. She remains a member of the Bundestag.
Party chair Lars Klingbeil said the day was not an easy one for him and described the attacks on Bas during a period of mourning as indecent and personal defamation. Merz said he had last spoken with her three weeks earlier and had encouraged her to take her time, while noting that their disagreements had always concerned policy rather than people.
After the death of my stepdaughter, I found that I need time to process my grief.
This is not an easy day for me today.
A congress in mid-January
The party presidium unanimously backed a new election of the entire leadership on a proposal from Klingbeil. Reports citing party circles, including dpa and the RND, name 16 and 17 January as the dates for a federal party congress in Bremen, where the whole executive board rather than only the co-chairs would be chosen. Klingbeil had earlier spoken of a congress around the turn of the year, and the gathering originally planned for that period was a convention without elections.
Klingbeil wants to keep the principle of a double leadership, but he did not say with whom he would run. Under the party statute, the congress could also decide to end the double leadership. A debate about separating the party chair from ministerial posts has resurfaced, since both Klingbeil and Bas have combined the two roles. Juso chief Philipp Türmer said the congress offers a chance for a fresh start and a broad discussion of the party's future.
Who could take the top job
Klingbeil has left open whether he will stand again, and he told ZDF that he knows about the criticism of him. At the last party congress he was re-elected with 64.9%, a result seen as disappointing, while Bas received 95.0%. Those figures are set out in the chart below.
- Lars Klingbeil
- 64.9 %
- Bärbel Bas
- 95 %
Manuela Schwesig, the premier of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is named as a possible candidate, but she has said that she does not aim for the SPD top job. According to Tagesspiegel, Anke Rehlinger of Saarland has already declined, because she must face a state election in 2027. Defence minister Boris Pistorius, who tops the party's popularity rankings, has rejected a candidacy. Former labour minister Hubertus Heil has positioned himself in public appearances but has not declared a candidacy.
What remains open
No applications had been filed as of Thursday, 15 October, and no candidate has been formally confirmed. The congress dates and venue rest on reports from party circles rather than an official announcement. Whether the party keeps its double leadership will be decided by the delegates, not by the presidium. The outcome of the vote on the separation of offices is therefore still unknown.
