Daniel Wesener
Daniel Wesener | |
---|---|
Senator for Finance of Berlin | |
Assumed office 21 December 2021 | |
Governing Mayor | Franziska Giffey |
Preceded by | Matthias Kollatz |
Member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin | |
In office 18 September 2016 – 2 January 2022 | |
Succeeded by | Catrin Wahlen |
Personal details | |
Born | Daniel Wesener 5 December 1975 Hamburg, West Germany |
Political party | Alliance 90/The Greens |
Residence(s) | Kreuzberg, Berlin |
Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
Daniel Wesener (born 5 December 1975) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. He is serving as Senator for Finance in the Berlin state government since December 2021. He was previously state chairman of the Greens from 2011 to 2017, and a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin from 2016 to 2022.
Personal life and education
Wesener was born and grew up in Hamburg. After graduating from the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium and completing community service, he moved to Berlin in 1996. He studied history and art history at the Humboldt University of Berlin and at the College of William & Mary in the United States, and was a scholarship holder of the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst. He finished his studies without a degree and worked in the office of Christian Ströbele, member of the Bundestag for the Greens, from 2003 to 2011.[1][2]
Wesener lives with his partner Dirk Behrendt in Kreuzberg.
Political career
Wesener has been a member of the Greens since 2001. In 2006, he was elected to the municipal council of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where he co-chaired the Greens group with Antje Kapek until 2011.[1][2]
In March 2011, Wesener was elected co-chairman of the Berlin Greens alongside Bettina Jarasch.[3] The two led the coalition negotiations with the SPD under Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit after the 2011 Berlin state election.[4] Wesener and Jarasch were re-elected as co-leaders in March 2013, achieving an unusually broad support among delegates at the party conference. Wesener won 95.4% of votes, the largest majority for any leader up to that point.[5] He was again re-elected in 2015 with 92% of the vote.[6]
Wesener is considered a representative of the left-wing of the Greens. In 2013, he identified himself as a libertarian leftist, and stated that he had stayed distant from party politics for a long time. He was motivated to join the Greens during the "patriotism debate" in the CDU in 2001, fearing a "sociopolitical rollback".[7]
In October 2015, Wesener was nominated as part of a four-member team of lead candidates for the 2016 Berlin state election alongside Bettina Jarasch, Antje Kapek, and Ramona Pop.[8][9] Wesener was placed fourth on the state-wide party list, and was elected to the Abgeordnetenhaus. In the Greens faction, he was parliamentary managing officer and spokesman for culture, budget, and finance.[2]
Wesener was again fourth on the Greens list for the 2021 Berlin state election,[10] and was re-elected.[11] He was subsequently appointed Senator for Finance in the Giffey senate, taking over the role from outgoing SPD senator Matthias Kollatz.[2][12] In accordance with the principle of separation of mandates, Wesener resigned from the Abgeordnetenhaus at the beginning of 2022, and was succeeded by Catrin Wahlen.[13]
References
- ^ a b "Daniel Wesner". Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Senator Daniel Wesener". Berlin.de (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Berlin Greens take on stuffy issues". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). 7 March 2011.
- ^ "Wowereit and the Berlin SPD: I am the party". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 6 October 2011.
- ^ "Green state leaders re-elected: after record praise, now a record result". Die Tageszeitung (in German). 17 March 2013.
- ^ "Berlin Greens confirm co-leadership". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 21 March 2015. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015.
- ^ "Dispute over the future of the Greens: "Perceived as mood-killers"". Die Tageszeitung (in German). 18 October 2013.
- ^ "Green cloverleaf with more eco". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 10 October 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
- ^ "Berlin Greens convention: Greens elect leadership quartet for Abgeordnetenhaus election". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 10 October 2015.
- ^ "AGH election 2021: Greens Berlin draw up state list". Greens Berlin (in German). 24 April 2021.
- ^ "Elected". Elections Berlin (in German). 14 October 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Berlin's Greens approve coalition agreement". Tagesspiegel (in German). 12 December 2021.
- ^ "Green senators Jarasch and Wesener give up seats in parliament". Tagesspiegel (in German). 3 January 2022.
External links
- "Daniel Wesner". Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- "Senator Daniel Wesener". Berlin.de (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- "Daniel Wesener". Greens Faction Berlin (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- "Daniel Wesener". daniel-wesener.berlin (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.