Party leader
Party chairman (in Switzerland Party President in bourgeois parties in Austria also party chairman ), at parties based democratic claim also party spokesman (comp. Federal spokesman ), the senior party official , who as chairman of a political party represented to the outside and in fact often leads. In technical and everyday language, the term party leader is used synonymously or as a generic term. He is a member of the respective party executive committee .
Possible party organizations
Party organizations without a (politically relevant) chairman
Parties do not necessarily need a party chairman. In states with majority voting rights in particular , the parties have often been formed from associations of electoral organizations at the constituency level. In the respective constituency, a support group of the local candidate was formed before the respective election. Like-minded MPs formed groups . There was initially no separate party organization and thus no party chairman. Historical examples of such party organizations are the Tories and Whigs in the United Kingdom . The first German parties - z. B. the National Liberal Party and the German Center Party - initially emerged through their parliamentary groups. From the 1870s onwards, party structures gradually developed that were independent of the parliamentary groups. The role of the party leader (if one was named at all) remained largely insignificant into the 20th century. The respective group leader was the actual leader of the party.
This is still the case in the United Kingdom and the United States of America . Although the parties there formally have chairmen , these have mainly administrative tasks and do not play a significant political role. Their tasks therefore correspond more to those of the “managing directors” of European parties. In contrast, political leadership in the UK is left to the party leader (either prime minister or opposition leader ), in the USA to the party leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives and, if he is a member of the party, to the president . In general, the parties play only a subordinate role in both countries and are mainly responsible for organizing the election campaign (and in the USA the nomination party congress ).
Party organizations with a (politically relevant) chairman
Party leaders are elected - usually together with their deputies - at party congresses, as a rule for the maximum permissible electoral period of two years. The party heads of larger parliamentary parties often have other high functions in personal union , such as head of government , minister or parliamentary group chairman (in Austria: club chairman ). Such dual functions are rare in Switzerland.
Many states have a party law that defines the general framework for political parties and often also regulates the partial financing of party and educational work ( party academy, etc.) through public funds. In this case, the true responsibility of party leader and finance officers not only within the party, but also to the state and its criminal law . The party-internal responsibility is given by the meetings of the party executive committee (or the presidium ) and by periodic party congresses and the " discharge " taking place at them . For the internal organization of the party and the regular contacts with the members not being chairman , but the party secretary or secretary general in charge.
As a rule, party leaders already have a "party career" behind them, which puts them in a position for a later high party office such as that of the chairman. The career often begins as a student functionary or in a function with the party youth , with a church organization or in a trade union .
Party organizations with dual leadership
For reasons of proportional representation , some parties have two party chairmen with equal rights, a so-called dual leadership . In Germany, this principle has been implemented by Bündnis 90 / Grünen since the party was founded: According to the statutes, there is a dual leadership based on gender, and in the early years of the party, the two competing party wings, Fundis and Realos, were also represented at the party leadership. At times there were up to three federal spokesmen with equal rights . The party Die Linke has had a dual leadership since 2010, which is composed of gender and origin from East and West Germany . The AfD also has a dual leadership.
Party chairmen of Bundestag parties in the Federal Republic of Germany
The following list is limited to parties that are currently represented in the German Bundestag and are represented there at least in groups .
| Political party | Chairperson |
|---|---|
 |
.jpg) Armin Laschet |
 |
 Markus Söder |
 |
 Norbert Walter-Borjan's Saskia Esken .jpg) |
 |
 Christian Lindner |
 |
 Robert Habeck |
 |
 Janine Wissler |
 |
 Jörg Meuthen |
Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( CDU )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Konrad Adenauer | 1950-1966 | Member of the German Bundestag (MP), Federal Chancellor (until 1963), Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs (1951–1955) | Honorary Chairman |
| Ludwig Erhard | 1966-1967 | Member of the Bundestag, Federal Chancellor (until 1966) | Honorary Chairman |
| Kurt Georg Kiesinger | 1967-1971 | Member of the Bundestag, Federal Chancellor (until 1969) | Honorary Chairman |
| Rainer Barzel | 1971-1973 | Member of the Bundestag, chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group | Unsuccessful chancellor candidate from the CDU and CSU in the 1972 federal election |
| Helmut Kohl | 1973-1998 | Member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate and Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate (until 1976), Member of the Bundestag (from 1976), Chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group (1976–1982), Federal Chancellor (1982–1998) | Honorary chairmanship dormant from 2000 |
| Wolfgang Schäuble | 1998-2000 | Member of the Bundestag, chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group | |
| Angela Merkel | 2000-2018 | Member of the Bundestag, Chairwoman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group (2002-2005), Federal Chancellor (from 2005) | |
| Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer | 2018-2021 | Federal Minister of Defense (from 2019) | |
| Armin Laschet | since 2021 | Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (from 2017) |
Christian Social Union in Bavaria ( CSU )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josef Müller | 1946-1949 | Member of the Bavarian State Parliament (MdL), Minister of State for Justice and Deputy to the Bavarian Prime Minister (from 1947) | |
| Hans Ehard | 1949-1955 | Member of the Bundestag, Bavarian Prime Minister (until 1954), Minister of State for Finance (1950), Minister of State for Transport, Post and Telegraph Affairs (1951–1952), President of the Bavarian State Parliament (from 1954) | |
| Hanns Seidel | 1955-1961 | Member of the Bundestag, Bavarian Prime Minister (1957–1960) | |
| Franz Josef Strauss | 1961-1988 | Member of the Bundestag (until 1978), Federal Minister of Defense (until 1963), Chairman of the CSU regional group in the German Bundestag (1963–1966), Federal Minister of Finance (1966–1969), Member of the Bundestag and Bavarian Prime Minister (from 1978) | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the CDU and CSU in the Federal Parliament elections in 1980 ; died in office |
| Theo Waigel | 1988-1999 | Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the CSU regional group in the German Bundestag (until 1989), Federal Minister of Finance (1989–1998) | Honorary Chairman |
| Edmund Stoiber | 1999-2007 | Member of the Bundestag, Bavarian Prime Minister (1993-2007), Member of the Bundestag (2005) | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the CDU and CSU in the Federal Parliament elections in 2002 ; Honorary Chairman |
| Erwin Huber | 2007-2008 | MdL, Minister of State for Finance | |
| Horst Seehofer | 2008-2019 | Bavarian Prime Minister (2008–2018), Member of the State Parliament (2013–2018), Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs (from 2018) | Honorary Chairman |
| Markus Söder | since 2019 | MdL, Bavarian Prime Minister |
Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kurt Schumacher | 1946-1952 | Chairman of the Zone Advisory Council for the British Zone of Occupation (1946), Member of the Bundestag and Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (from 1949) | Unsuccessful top candidate of the SPD in the 1949 federal election ; Unsuccessful candidate for the office of Federal President (1949); died in office |
| Erich Ollenhauer | 1952-1963 | Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | Unsuccessful top candidate of the SPD in the federal elections in 1953 and 1957 ; died in office |
| Willy Brandt | 1964-1987 | Member of the Berlin House of Representatives and Governing Mayor of Berlin (until 1966), Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Federal Chancellor (1966–1969), Member of the Bundestag (from 1969), Federal Chancellor (1969–1974), President of the Socialist International (from 1976) | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the SPD in the Bundestag elections in 1961 and 1965 ; Honorary chairman; Nobel Peace Prize 1971 |
| Hans-Jochen Vogel | 1987-1991 | Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the SPD in the federal election in 1983 |
| Bjorn Engholm | 1991-1993 | Member of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament , Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein (until 1993) | Designated Chancellor Candidate of the SPD for the 1994 Bundestag election ; Resignation from all offices because of the drawer affair |
| Rudolf Scharping | 1993-1995 | Member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate and Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate (until 1994), Member of the Bundestag and Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (from 1994) | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the SPD in the 1994 federal election |
| Oskar Lafontaine | 1995-1999 | Member of the State Parliament of Saarland and Prime Minister of Saarland (until 1998), Member of the Bundestag and Federal Minister of Finance (from 1998) | 1999 resignation from all offices due to differences within the federal government; later chairman of the party Die Linke (2007-2010) |
| Gerhard Schröder | 1999-2004 | Member of the Bundestag and Federal Chancellor | |
| Franz Müntefering | 2004-2005 | Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | |
| Matthias Platzeck | 2005-2006 | Member of the Brandenburg State Parliament and Prime Minister of Brandenburg | |
| Kurt Beck | 2006-2008 | Member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate and Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate | |
| Franz Müntefering | 2008-2009 | Member of the Bundestag | |
| Sigmar Gabriel | 2009-2017 | Member of the Bundestag, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy (2013-2017), Deputy Federal Chancellor, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs (from 2017) | |
| Martin Schulz | 2017-2018 | Member of the Bundestag (from 2017) | Unsuccessful candidate for Chancellor of the SPD in the 2017 federal election |
| Andrea Nahles | 2018-2019 | Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | First female SPD party leader. On June 3, 2019, Nahles announced her resignation. |
| Norbert Walter-Borjans | since 2019 | ||
| Saskia Esken | since 2019 | Member of the Bundestag |
Free Democratic Party ( FDP )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theodor Heuss | 1948-1949 | Member of the Parliamentary Council | Subsequently Federal President (1949–1959) |
| Franz Blücher | 1949-1954 | Member of the Bundestag, Federal Minister for Marshall Plan Affairs (until 1953), Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation (from 1953), Deputy Chancellor | From 1956 member of the FVP |
| Thomas Dehler | 1954-1957 | Member of the Bundestag, chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | |
| Reinhold Maier | 1957-1960 | Member of the Bundestag (until 1959), member of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg | Honorary Chairman |
| Erich Mende | 1960-1968 | Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (until 1963), Federal Minister for Pan-German Issues and Deputy Chancellor (1963–1966) | From 1970 member of the CDU |
| Walter Scheel | 1968-1974 | Member of the Bundestag, Deputy President of the German Bundestag (until 1969), Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Federal Chancellor (1969–1974) | Subsequently Federal President (1974–1979); Honorary Chairman |
| Hans-Dietrich Genscher | 1974-1985 | Member of the Bundestag, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chancellor (with a two-week break in 1982) | Honorary Chairman |
| Martin Bangemann | 1985-1988 | Federal Minister of Economics , Member of the Bundestag (from 1987) | |
| Otto Graf Lambsdorff | 1988-1993 | Member of the Bundestag | Honorary Chairman |
| Klaus Kinkel | 1993-1995 | Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Federal Chancellor, Member of the Bundestag (from 1994) | |
| Wolfgang Gerhardt | 1995-2001 | Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (from 1998) | |
| Guido Westerwelle | 2001-2011 | Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (2006–2009), Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Federal Chancellor (from 2009) | |
| Philipp Rösler | 2011-2013 | Federal Minister for Economics and Technology and Deputy Federal Chancellor | |
| Christian Lindner | since 2013 | Member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and chairman of the FDP parliamentary group (until 2017), Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (from 2017) |
Alliance 90 / The Greens
It emerged on May 14, 1993 from a merger of the two parties Die Grünen (founded in 1980) and Bündnis 90 (founded in 1991). The chairs of Bündnis 90 are not listed.
The left
Emerged on June 16, 2007 through the accession of the Work & Social Justice Association - Die Wahlalternative (WASG) to Die Linkspartei.PDS ; previously known under the names: Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS, 1990–2005), Socialist Unity Party of Germany - Party of Democratic Socialism (SED-PDS, 1989–1990) and Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED, 1946–1989). Only the party leaders from the time of the " Wende " in the German Democratic Republic are listed .
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gregor Gysi | 1989-1993 | Member of the freely elected People's Chamber of the GDR and chairman of the PDS parliamentary group (1990), Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the PDS group in the German Bundestag (from 1990) | |
| Lothar Bisky | 1993-2000 | Member of the Brandenburg State Parliament and chairman of the PDS-LL parliamentary group (or from 1994 PDS) | |
| Gabriele Zimmer | 2000-2003 | Member of the Thuringian Parliament | |
| Lothar Bisky | 2003-2010 | Member of the Brandenburg State Parliament (until 2005), Chairman of the PDS parliamentary group (until 2004), Vice-President of the Brandenburg State Parliament (2004–2005), Member of the Bundestag (2005–2009), Chairman of the European Left (2007–2010), Member of the European Parliament and chairman of the GUE-NGL parliamentary group (from 2009) | |
| Oskar Lafontaine | 2007-2010 | Member of the Bundestag (until 2010), chairman of the Die Linke parliamentary group in the German Bundestag (until 2009), member of the Saarland state parliament and chairman of the Die Linke parliamentary group (from 2009) | |
| Gesine Loetzsch | 2010–2012 | Member of the Bundestag | |
| Klaus Ernst | 2010–2012 | Member of the Bundestag | |
| Katja Kipping | 2012-2021 | Member of the Bundestag | |
| Bernd Riexinger | 2012-2021 | Unsuccessful top candidate for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in 2016 Member of the Bundestag from 2017 | |
| Janine Wissler | since 2021 | Member of the Hessian state parliament , chairwoman of the left-wing parliamentary group in Hesse (since 2008) | |
| Susanne Hennig-Wellsow | since 2021 | Member of the Thuringian state parliament , chairwoman of the Thuringian left-wing parliamentary group |
Alternative for Germany ( AfD )
The AfD was founded in 2013 and elected to the German Bundestag for the first time in 2017.
| Party presidency | Term of office | Public office during the party presidency | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernd Lucke | 2013-2015 | Member of the European Parliament (from 2014) | Resigned from the AfD after being voted out of the party leadership |
| Konrad Adam | 2013-2015 | Formerly a member of the CDU | |
| Frauke Petry | 2013-2017 | Member of the Saxon state parliament and chairman of the AfD parliamentary group (from 2014) | Resigned from the AfD in office |
| Jörg Meuthen | since 2015 | Member of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg and chairman of the AfD parliamentary group and the ABW parliamentary group (2016-2017), member of the European Parliament (from 2017) | Top candidate of the AfD for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in 2016 and top candidate of the AfD for the European elections in 2019 |
| Alexander Gauland | 2017-2019 | Member of the Bundestag and chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag | 1973–2013 member of the CDU, top candidate of the AfD in the 2017 federal election, honorary chairman |
| Tino Chrupalla | since 2019 | Member of the Bundestag |
time beam
Party chairman of national council parties in the Republic of Austria
In Austria the term party chairman is only used by the socialist parties: The party leader of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) is called the federal party chairman , as is the chairman of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ). The other parties designate the holder of the top position as party chairman or federal spokesman .
The following list is limited to the Austrian parties of the Second Republic that are currently represented in the National Council.
| Political party | Chairperson |
|---|---|
 |
_(cropped).jpg) Sebastian Kurz |
 |
.jpg) Pamela Rendi-Wagner |
 |
 Norbert Hofer |
 |
 Beate Meinl-Reisinger |
 |
 Werner Kogler |
Austrian People's Party ( ÖVP )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Leopold Kunschak | 1945-1945 | |
| Leopold Figl | 1945-1952 | |
| Julius Raab | 1952-1960 | |
| Alfons Gorbach | 1960-1963 | |
| Josef Klaus | 1963-1970 | |
| Hermann Withalm | 1970-1971 | |
| Karl Schleinzer | 1971-1975 | |
| Josef Taus | 1975-1979 | |
| Alois Mock | 1979-1989 | |
| Josef Riegler | 1989-1991 | |
| Erhard Busek | 1991-1995 | |
| Wolfgang bowl | 1995-2007 | |
| Wilhelm Molterer | 2007-2008 | |
| Josef Pröll | 2008-2011 | |
| Michael Spindelegger | 2011-2014 | |
| Reinhold Mitterlehner | 2014-2017 | |
| Sebastian Kurz | since 2017 |
Social Democratic Party of Austria ( SPÖ )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Adolf Schärf | 1945–1957 | |
| Bruno Pittermann | 1957-1967 | |
| Bruno Kreisky | 1967-1983 | |
| Fred Sinowatz | 1983-1988 | |
| Franz Vranitzky | 1988-1997 | |
| Viktor Klima | 1997-2000 | |
| Alfred Gusenbauer | 2000-2008 | |
| Werner Faymann | 2008-2016 | |
| Christian Kern | 2016-2018 | |
| Pamela Rendi-Wagner | since 2018 |
Freedom Party of Austria ( FPÖ )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Anton Reinthaller | 1956-1958 | |
| Friedrich Peter | 1958-1988 | |
| Alexander Goetz | 1978-1980 | |
| Norbert Steger | 1980-1986 | |
| Jörg Haider | 1986-2000 | |
| Susanne Riess-Passer | 2000-2002 | |
| Mathias Reichhold | 2002 | |
| Herbert Haupt | 2002-2004 | |
| Ursula Haubner | 2004-2005 | |
| Hilmar Kabas | 2005 | |
| Heinz-Christian Strache | 2005-2019 | |
| Norbert Hofer | 2019-2021 |
NEOS - The New Austria and Liberal Forum ( NEOS )
| Party presidency | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Matthias Strolz | 2014-2018 | |
| Beate Meinl-Reisinger | since 2018 |
The Greens - The Green Alternative
| Party presidency | Term of office | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Freda Meissner-Blue | 1986-1988 | |
| Johannes Voggenhuber | 1988-1992 | |
| Peter Pilz | 1992-1994 | |
| Madeleine Petrovic | 1994-1995 | |
| Christoph Canon | 1995-1997 | |
| Alexander Van der Bellen | 1997-2008 | |
| Eva Glawischnig | 2008-2017 | |
| Ingrid Felipe | 2017 | |
| Werner Kogler | since 2017 |
time beam
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ For example, ISCO 08 in the German version under 1114 senior employees of interest organizations gives the two terms party leader and party leader as an example. ISCO 08 Common German-language titles and explanations based on the English-language version 1.5a from April 2011. Status of processing: April 2011, p. 14 ( pdf , statistik.at)
- ^ Nils Müller: The party system of the USA - An overview, ISBN 978-3-656-03591-6 , p. 8 ff.
- ↑ ORF at / agencies red: Norbert Hofer resigns as FPÖ party leader. June 1, 2021, accessed June 1, 2021 .