New leader of the SPD: Bärbel Bas brings a breath of fresh air after the crisis!

New leader of the SPD: Bärbel Bas brings a breath of fresh air after the crisis!

The SPD's federal party conference in Berlin raised a lot of issues for the party. After the historic low point in the federal election in February, where the Social Democrats only received 16.4 percent of the vote, the SPD now faces the challenge of not only finding its way out of the crisis, but also renewing its image. Radio Leverkusen reports that the mood in the party executive committee is tense in view of the elections and the poor results. Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil received only 64.9% of the votes in the election for dual leadership - the worst result for an SPD leader without an opposing candidate. In contrast, Bärbel Bas can rely on an impressive approval rating of 95% and is seen as the SPD's new hope.

On the first day of the party conference, which opened on Friday, June 27, the discontent and wounds of the party base were clearly felt. Klingbeil expressed disappointment with the election results and emphasized that the party had to regain more trust among the population Tagesschau. Bärbel Bas describes himself as a counter-model to Klingbeil and wants to bring communication within the party to a more understandable level. A central theme of her speech was the promotion of women in politics, which earned great applause from the delegates.

The way into the future

With the beautiful motto “Change begins with us”, the SPD wants to position itself not only as a caretaker party, but also as a people's party. At the party conference, the plan was presented to develop a new basic program that would focus on traditional social democratic issues. This is scheduled to be completed by 2027 ZDF. The wait for fresh impulses is great, not least because Hubertus Heil described the party as “boring” and called for new ideas from outside.

A particularly controversial discussion arose around compulsory military service. The Jusos originally wanted to submit a proposal to revive compulsory military service, but a compromise was reached that excluded the possibility of drafting conscripts as long as voluntary measures were not fully exhausted. Furthermore, a federal-state working group has been set up to compile materials for a possible ban on the AfD, which has been described as “clearly right-wing extremist”. Such a motion was discussed at the party conference because the SPD specifically wants to win back voters who have migrated to the AfD ZDF.

A look at the challenges ahead

The next few months will be crucial for the SPD. There are five state elections coming up next year, and the internal mood could be heavily influenced by the federal political situation. At the same time, Hubertus Heil warned of internal conflicts and called for a constructive culture of debate within the party in order to better bring the many different positions together Radio Leverkusen. The recognition for the outgoing former Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former party leader Saskia Esken was particularly clear at the farewell party on Saturday afternoon.

The SPD is therefore at a turning point. With Bärbel Bas at the helm there is new hope. Whether the party can heal its wounds and win back voters remains to be seen. However, one thing seems clear: changes are necessary to get the SPD back on its feet.