SPD to elect new party leadership around turn of year
After Bärbel Bas’s departure, Germany’s SPD wants its full leadership elected again.
Follow-up to: Bas’s departure puts German coalition under further pressure Monday, 12 October 2026, 14:28
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Germany’s SPD wants to re-elect its full party leadership around the turn of the year. Party leader Lars Klingbeil announced this on Monday after Bärbel Bas resigned as party leader and minister with immediate effect.
According to Klingbeil, the party presidium unanimously decided that the full SPD leadership should be re-elected at a party conference in December or January. Klingbeil will stand again. He also said the party wants to retain one male and one female chair for a dual party leadership.
The announcement is the first concrete organisational response to Bas’s departure, after she resigned on Monday as SPD chair and as minister of Labour and Social Affairs. She referred to the death of her stepdaughter and to public attacks, including from the coalition partner. Bas will retain her seat in the Bundestag.
The party executive also backed a proposal to nominate Alexander Schweitzer as the new minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Schweitzer was previously minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate. The nomination is therefore politically settled, but the formal appointment is still pending.
The change comes at a sensitive moment for the German government. Within the CDU and CSU, criticism had emerged because agreements on, among other things, more flexible working hours and pensions had not yet been presented as a bill. According to Tagesschau, draft legislation had by then entered an initial coordination phase at the Federal Chancellery.
Within the SPD, the election of the new party leadership will therefore be more than a personnel procedure. Klingbeil said the party needed clarity both about its future leadership and its programmatic direction. The party is the junior partner in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government and is seeking to stabilise its political position after recent election losses.
The consequences for the coalition cannot yet be determined. The CDU responded respectfully to Bas’s personal decision, while SPD politicians criticised the way they believed she had been treated by coalition politicians. The forthcoming nominations will show whether the SPD is primarily seeking continuity or wants to change course more clearly.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- Bärbel Bas has resigned from both positions.
- The SPD wants to re-elect its full party leadership.
- Lars Klingbeil will stand again and wants to retain the dual party leadership.
- Alexander Schweitzer has been nominated as minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
Left
Arguments The SPD should use the leadership crisis to put social protection, workers’ rights and a clearer distance from conservative coalition partners at the centre.
Values Solidarity, protection of workers, equality and resistance to political intimidation.
Consequences A sharper social course could make the party more recognisable, but could also make cooperation with the CDU/CSU more difficult.
Centre
Arguments The party chiefly needs administrative calm and an orderly election process so that the coalition can implement its agreed reforms.
Values Continuity, institutional reliability and willingness to compromise.
Consequences A broad dual leadership could provide stability, but uncertainty about the direction could weaken the SPD further.
Right
Arguments The SPD must take responsibility for delays in government policy and choose a leadership that gives greater weight to work, growth and deliverability.
Values Administrative decisiveness, economic responsibility and clear agreements within the coalition.
Consequences A more pragmatic SPD could strengthen the government, but might lose voters who expect a distinctly social profile.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The key facts were confirmed by Tagesschau and Deutschlandfunk and date from 12 October 2026. Uncertain elements, such as Schweitzer’s formal appointment, are presented as a proposal or nomination.
- confirmed The SPD wants to re-elect its full party leadership around December or January. — Announced by Lars Klingbeil and reported by Tagesschau. source
- confirmed Bärbel Bas resigned with immediate effect from her positions as SPD chair and labour minister. — Confirmed in the personal statement distributed by the SPD. source
- confirmed Bas will retain her seat in the Bundestag. — Reported by Tagesschau. source
- confirmed Alexander Schweitzer has been nominated as successor at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. — The nomination was reported by Tagesschau and Deutschlandfunk. source
Editor's note
The immediate departure of Bas, the announced full leadership election and Schweitzer’s nomination are certain. Schweitzer’s formal appointment and the eventual candidates for the party leadership had not yet been finalised on Monday evening.Sources
The story so far
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 09:28 Bas steps down, Schweitzer mentioned as successor
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 12:02 SPD puts forward Schweitzer to succeed Bas
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 14:28 Bas’s departure puts German coalition under further pressure
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 23:57 SPD to elect new party leadership around turn of year (this article)
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „duitsland spd”
- de Volkskrant — „duitsland spd”
- RTL Nieuws — „duitsland spd”