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New Leadership Team of North Rhine-Westphalian SPD Takes Stock of Position
After three hearty months at the helm, the fresh management duo of the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Social Democratic Party (SPD), Achim Post and Sarah Philipp, will give their first account of their political situation on Monday (noon). This will happen during a press conference, which will also delve into the upcoming national SPD conference, happening in Berlin from December 8th.
Post, a federal-level SPD member, has been nominated for the role of vice-chairman for the federal party by the NRW SPD executive. Known for its substantial membership count, the NRW SPD has historically played an influential role in the federal SPD leadership. Former NRW SPD chief, Thomas Kutschaty, has been part of the federal party's vice-chairmen since 2021.
Post, also the chairperson of NRW SPD's Bundestag group, and Sarah Philipp (40), a Duisburg state parliament member, were elected as NRW SPD's first joint leadership in August at a party conference.
The NRW SPD's recent struggles—reaching a historic low of 26.7% in the 2022 NRW election—is one of the challenges the new leadership team will tackle. A poll by WDR in early November had the SPD at 18%, four percentage points lower than in the previous poll.
North Rhine-Westphalia has been under CDU-led coalitions since 2017. Hendrik Wüst, the current Minister President, leads the region's first-ever black-green administration since May 2022.
Key Insights:
- The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has gained significant influence in NRW migration policies, causing widespread criticism and concerns.
- NRW Ministerpräsident Wüst has expressed concerns about the AfD and has urged democratic parties to collaborate against right-wing extremism.
- The SPD has been critical of the Union's actions, with SPD-Fraktionschef Ott calling for Wüst to clarify NRW's stance against right-wing extremism.
- Achim Post and Sarah Philipp, the new leadership team of the NRW SPD, have strongly opposed the Union's informal coalition with the AfD and pushed for a unified democratic response.
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