# Matthias Miersch

Matthias Miersch (born 19 December 1968) is a German criminal defense lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Member of the Bundestag since the 2005 German federal election, representing the Hannover-Land II district. He focussed on environmental policy. On 8 October 2024 Miersch was appointed as provisional secretary general of the Social Democratic Party.
Since the Scholz cabinet collapsed on 7 November 2024 (Scholz's dismissed FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner) Miersch is leading the Political campaign before the 2025 German federal election.
Since 2013, Miersch has been a member of the party's executive board under successive chairpersons Sigmar Gabriel (2013-2017), Martin Schulz (2017-2018), Andrea Nahles (2018-2019), Norbert Walter-Borjans (2019–2021), Saskia Esken (since 2019) and Lars Klingbeil (since 2021).

## Early life and education

Born in Hannover, Miersch studied law at the Leibniz University Hannover and the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. From 1988 until 1995, he volunteered for the St. John Accident Assistance.

## Political career

Miersch has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 2005 national election. In the Bundestag, he served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2005–2017) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2005–2009).
In addition, Miersch was a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board for Sustainable Development (2006-2009) and the Parliamentary Commission on the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (2014-2016). In 2014, he joined the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), the Federal Labour Court (BAG), and the Federal Social Court (BSG).
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Miersch was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on the environment and agriculture, led by Katherina Reiche and Ute Vogt. The Third Merkel cabinet governed until 2017, and also the Fourth Merkel cabinet was a Grand Coalition. From 2014 to 2016, Miersch was one of the members of the country's temporary National Commission on the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, chaired by Ursula Heinen-Esser and Michael Müller.
Within his parliamentary group, Miersch belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. He served as spokesperson on environmental policy between 2009 and 2013. In 2015, he was elected to the parliamentary group's executive board under the leadership of chairman Thomas Oppermann. Since 2017, he has been the group's deputy chairman, under successive chairs Andrea Nahles (2017-2019) and Rolf Mützenich (since 2019).
In 2019, Miersch succeeded Stefan Schostok as chairman of the SPD in Hannover.
In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Green Party and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Miersch led his party's delegation in the working group on environmental policy; his co-chairs from the other parties were Oliver Krischer and Lukas Köhler.

## Other activities

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2018)
* Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Member of the Committee on Sustainable Development (since 2016)
* Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009)
* Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld, Substitute Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009)
* Deutsche Umweltstiftung, Member of the Advisory Board
* spw – Zeitschrift für sozialistische Politik und Wirtschaft, Member of the Editorial Board
* Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), Member
* Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Member

## Personal life

Miersch is openly homosexual and married to his partner.