Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats on Sunday elected Andrea Nahles, a combative and outspoken former labour minister, as the first woman leader of the 155-year-old party.

A decades-long SPD stalwart known for her lectern-thumping speeches, the 47-year-old single mother won 66 percent of the party vote, beating Simone Lange, 41, a former policewoman and mayor of the city of Flensburg. </s> Germany's Social Democratic Party on Sunday chose Andrea Nahles as its new leader during its party congress in the western city of Wiesbaden.

Nahles, who was until now leader of the SPD parliamentary group, thus became the first woman to lead the formation in its 154 years of existence.

The successor to Martin Schulz claimed 66 percent of the votes cast by over 600 party members present at the congress, beating her rival, Flensburg mayor Simone Lange. </s> Germany's Social Democratic Party on Sunday chose Andrea Nahles as its new leader during its party congress in the western city of Wiesbaden.

Nahles, who was until now leader of the SPD parliamentary group, thus became the first woman to lead the formation in its 154 years of existence. </s> BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) elected Andrea Nahles as their first ever female chairwoman on Sunday, hoping she can reinvigorate the country’s oldest party after it suffered heavy losses in September’s election.

The 154-year-old SPD, junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, picked Nahles after former leader Martin Schulz resigned from the position given that his election campaign earned the party its worst result since 1933. </s> Germany's centre-left Social Democrats on Sunday elected Andrea Nahles, a combative and outspoken former labour minister, as the first woman leader of the 155-year-old party.

BERLIN: Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Sunday (Apr 22) elected Andrea Nahles, a combative and outspoken former labour minister, as the first woman leader of the 155-year-old party.

A decades-long SPD stalwart known for her lectern-thumping speeches, the 47-year-old single mother joins Chancellor Angela Merkel at the top of German politics - and as the woman who may one day seek her job.

"Today, at this party congress, we're breaking though the glass ceiling in the SPD," said Nahles at the meeting in the city of Wiesbaden. "And the ceiling will stay open."

Well-connected within her party, Nahles, a former leader of its Jusos youth wing, won 66 percent of the vote, beating Simone Lange, 41, a former policewoman and mayor of the city of Flensburg.

The less than stellar result reflected lingering resentment within the party against the decision, strongly promoted by Nahles, to once more govern as junior partners to Merkel's conservatives.

Electing a female SPD leader is "a sign of progress that was long overdue, and it's good that it's happening now," said the party's outgoing interim leader, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who called the vote "a historic moment".

Nahles, a bricklayer's daughter who hails from the party's left wing, vowed to lead a renewal of Germany's second biggest party, which scored just 20.5 per cent in the September 2017 general election - its worst post-war result.

The SPD's challenge now will be to at once govern responsibly as junior coalition partners, while also convincing its dwindling band of working-class voters that it is still fighting for their interests.

Nahles vowed that the SPD would fight for social justice and welfare, declaring that "solidarity is what is most lacking in the globalised, neoliberal, turbo-digitalised world".

She pledged to promote decent wages as technology destroys traditional jobs, and a pro-EU foreign policy that also emphasises pacifism, diplomacy and international cooperation.

In her speech Sunday, Nahles also vowed a determined fight against rightwing populists of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), declaring that the battle "is about nothing less than preserving our democracy".

For now, Nahles faces a huge challenge ahead - a survey last week found that 47 per cent of respondents doubted that the party veteran is the right person to lead a renewal.

Only one third had confidence that Nahles would be able to strengthen the party, said the poll by Infratest dimap for public broadcaster ARD. </s> Andrea Nahles on Sunday announced her resignation as leader of the Social Democratic Party and its parliamentary group, saying she wanted to give the party the chance to organize her successor in an orderly procedure.

"The discussions within the parliamentary group and the large amount of feedback from the party have shown me that there is no longer support for me in holding these offices," she wrote in a statement to SPD members.

She said she would step down as party leader on Monday and as parliamentary leader on Tuesday.

The announcement follows her party's poor showing at European parliamentary elections in May, which reduced the SPD to Germany's third-biggest party behind its senior coalition partner the CDU and the environmental Greens.

Nahles' announcement is a surprise, coming as it does before a vote on her leadership she had called for Tuesday.

She became leader of the SPD in April 2018 having led the parliamentary party since September 2017. Nahles is the first woman to have headed the party, which has roots going back to 1863, making it the oldest extant party in the German Parliament, the Bundestag.

Since 2013, the SPD has governed in "grand coalitions" with the conservative bloc formed by Merkel's CDU and the Bavarian Christian Social Union.

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> Combative former labour minister Andrea Nahles is first woman to lead party in 155 years

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Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats have elected Andrea Nahles, a combative and outspoken former labour minister, as the first female leader of the 155-year-old party.

Known for her lectern-thumping speeches and occasional outbursts of child-like humour, the 47-year-old single mother joins the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, at the top of German politics – and may one day seek her job.

“We’re breaking though the glass ceiling in the SPD,” Nahles said at the delegates’ meeting in the city of Wiesbaden. “And the ceiling will stay open.”

Well-connected within her party, Nahles, a former leader of its Jusos youth wing, won 66% of the vote, beating Simone Lange, 41, a former policewoman and mayor of the city of Flensburg.

The less than stellar result against an outsider reflected lingering resentment within the party toward the decision, which Nahles strongly promoted, of govern as junior partners again to Merkel’s conservatives.

Germany’s finance minister and the SPD’s interim leader, Olaf Scholz, said electing a woman was a sign of long-overdue progress and a historic moment.

In the run-up to the vote, wellwishers had ironically expressed hope that Nahles would do worse than her predecessor Martin Schulz.

A repeat of his 100% party backing last year would have seemed like bad omen given that the SPD won only 20.5% of the vote in the September 2017 general election, the party’s worst result since the second world war.

Nahles now faces the dual challenge of governing responsibly with Merkel while convincing her party’s dwindling number of working-class voters that the SPD is still their champion.

Nahles vowed that the party would fight for social justice and welfare. “Solidarity is what is most lacking in the globalised, neoliberal, turbo-digitalised world,” she said.

She pledged a fight for decent wages as technology destroys traditional jobs, and a pro-EU foreign policy that emphasises pacifism and international cooperation.

From the party’s left, Nahles scored some landmark successes under the previous Merkel coalition government, notably in introducing a minimum wage.

When voters declined to reward the SPD for such gains, the party initially vowed a muscular fight from the opposition benches.

Nahles summed up the party’s combative approach to the Merkel government at the time by telling journalists that “from tomorrow we’ll smack ’em in the face”.

When it turned out that the SPD was likely to rejoin Merkel after all, but drive a tough bargain in the process, she used a kindergarten taunt that loosely translates as “na-na na-na boo-boo”.

It was not out of style for Nahles, who once mocked Merkel’s party in the Bundestag with a slightly off-key rendition of the theme song of Swedish children’s book hero Pippi Longstocking.

Some find such performances grating, but few underestimate Nahles who, like Merkel, is considered a hard worker and a sharp strategist and political operator. </s> "The discussions within the parliamentary faction and feedback from within the party have shown me that I no longer have the necessary support to carry out my duties," Nahles said in a statement.

"I sincerely hope that you will be able to rebuild trust and mutual respect, and thus find people who can support you with all their might. Our country needs a strong SPD!" she added.

Andrea Nahles' decision follows the SPD's poor results in the European parliamentary elections, which reduced the SPD to Germany's third-biggest party after its coalition partner, the CDU, and the Greens.

Nahles became leader of the SPD in April 2018, having led the party in the national bundestag since September 2017. She was also the first woman to head the party.

The European Parliament elections to the 751-seat parliamentary institution were held across EU member states from May 23-26. </s> Andrea Nahles on Sunday announced her resignation from her post as leader of the Social Democratic Party and its parliamentary group, saying she wanted to give the party the chance to organize her successor in an orderly procedure.
Andrea Nahles is elected as the first female leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.