Bärbel Bas, the current Labor Minister, is expected to succeed Saskia Esken as the head of the SPD. Additionally, Tim Klüssendorf is set to become the new party secretary, according to multiple media outlets. With this, Klüssendorf would take over the position from Matthias Miersch, who recently became the party’s parliamentary group leader. The new party leadership is set to be elected at the upcoming federal party congress in late June.
On Sunday evening, the former party chairwoman Esken announced that she would not run for the position again. The pressure on Esken had been increasing following the party’s historically poor performance in the February federal elections. However, there is also criticism of her co-chairman and new vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil. He has not taken sufficient responsibility for the election defeat and instead shifted the blame onto Esken.