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. </s> Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) head and the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, Andrea Nahles, on Sunday announced that she would resign from her position, citing a lack of support she needed to continue.

“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 an official statement.

The fact that this developments is likely to create a short-term political uncertainty in the euro area's biggest economy suggests that the shared currency could start the week on the back foot. </s> Andrea Nahles to Step Down as Leader of German Social Democrats

(Bloomberg) -- Andrea Nahles, the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, the junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, said she will resign as party chief and also step down as the party’s caucus leader in the national parliament.

“The necessary support for exercising my duties is no longer there,” Nahles said in a statement e-mailed by her party. Nahles said that she’ll resign as party chairwoman on Monday and as caucus leader on Tuesday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Erhard Krasny at ekrasny@bloomberg.net, James Amott </s> FRANKFURT, June 2 (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) head Andrea Nahles said on Sunday she would resign as its chief as well giving up her position as leader of its German parliamentary group, saying she did not have the support she needed to continue.

The SPD leadership upheaval comes as the Greens have overtaken Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives to become the most popular party in Germany, an opinion poll on Saturday showed, with the SPD support at an all-time low.

"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 released by the SPD on Sunday.

Nahles said she would resign her position as head of the SPD on Monday and quit her position as leader of the party in parliament on Tuesday. (Reporting by Edward Taylor Editing by Alexander Smith) </s> Following the resignation of the leader of the German Social Democratic Party, Andrea Nahles, after barely 13 months in office, a trio formed by two heads of government and a president of the regional party will take on the interim presidency of the party.

The resignation was a setback for the Christian Democrats, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who governs in coalition with the SPD as a junior partner. </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> Germany's center-left Social Democrats are electing a new leader to spearhead the party's recovery from a disastrous election result and guide it through a fractious coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Andrea Nahles, the combative leader of the party's parliamentary group, is overwhelmingly favored to win election at a congress in Wiesbaden on Sunday. But, unusually for Germany, she has a challenger in Simone Lange, the left-leaning mayor of the northern town of Flensburg.

The Social Democrats slumped to their worst result since World War II in September's election, securing only 20.5 percent of the vote. The party initially planned to go into opposition, but reluctantly changed course after Merkel's negotiations with two smaller parties collapsed and eventually agreed to enter another "grand coalition" as the chancellor's junior partner. </s> The leader of Germany's center-left Social Democrats, a junior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition, announced her resignation Sunday following days of speculation over the fallout from the party's debacle in the European Parliament election.

Andrea Nahles said she wanted "clarity" after questions were raised about her ability to lead the party.

"The necessary support for me to carry out my duties isn't there anymore," she said in a statement Sunday.

Nahles said she will be stepping down from her post as chairwoman of the Social Democrats and leader of its parliamentary faction in the coming days, to ensure that her successors are found "in an orderly fashion."

The Social Democrats fell to third place behind Merkel's center-right Union bloc and the Greens in last month's European Parliament election in Germany.

Nahles took over as party leader in February 2018, as the Social Democrats reluctantly extended their "grand coalition" with Merkel's conservatives following a poor showing in the previous year's German election.

While the Social Democrats have managed to push through their agenda of improving social welfare and working conditions for millions of Germans, voters haven't rewarded the party for it in the polls.

Instead, many have turned to the environmentalist Greens, the far-right anti-migrant Alternative for Germany, the socialist Left party or Merkel's increasingly centrist Union bloc in recent years.

An election loss last week in the Social Democrats' longtime bastion , the tiny northwestern state of Bremen, and the prospect of further defeats in upcoming regional votes in eastern Germany this fall has alarmed many in the party.

The Social Democrats plan to hold a midterm review of the coalition with Merkel's bloc later this year, raising the prospect of an early end to the coalition.

Merkel, who handed the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union party to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in December, has said she wants to stay on as chancellor until her fourth term ends when Germany holds its next national election in late 2021. </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.

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.
Andrea Nahles announces her resignation as leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party, effective at the beginning of next week.