Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel | |
|---|---|
 Schäfer-Gümbel in 2020 | |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party Acting | |
| In office 3 June 2019 – 1 October 2019 Serving with Malu Dreyer and Manuela Schwesig | |
| General Secretary | Lars Klingbeil |
| Preceded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Succeeded by | Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Hesse | |
| In office 28 February 2009 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Andrea Ypsilanti |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Faeser |
| Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
| In office 14 November 2009 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Leader | Sigmar Gabriel Martin Schulz Andrea Nahles |
| Preceded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Kühnert |
| Member of the Hessian Landtag | |
| In office 5 April 2003 – 1 October 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 October 1969 Oberstdorf, West Germany |
| Political party | SPD |
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel (né Schäfer, born 1 October 1969) is a German politician of the SPD.
He is currently the leader of the opposition SPD party bloc in the Hessian state parliament. He lost his bid for the office of Minister-President of Hesse in the January 2009 Hessian state election, where he had challenged incumbent Roland Koch (CDU).[1] Schäfer-Gümbel has been deputy leader of the SPD since December 2013. He is one of three ad interim successors of former SPD leader Andrea Nahles in the transition phase until a new leader will be voted in later in 2019.[2]
Life
Schäfer-Gümbel was born to a West German soldier stationed in the far south of Bavaria in Oberstdorf. However, he grew up in Hesse in the city of Gießen. He briefly studied Agrarian Science at Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, after which he changed to Political Science. Supported by a scholarship of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, he graduated with a Master's degree in 1997, he took various minor political positions. He is married and has three children.
Career
Schäfer-Gümbel was involved with the Social and Youth department of Gießen from the late 1990s. He became a local adviser to the SPD, a party which he had joined at the age of 17, and was also a local delegate of the SPD in the local government (Kreistag) in Gießen. He quickly moved up the ranks in the Hessian SPD party machine, and was a candidate on the SPD party list during the 2003 Landtag election. He gained a seat in 2003, and has been a member of the Hessian Landtag ever since. He was re-elected in the 2008 Landtag election and in the 2009 special election; however he was elected as part of the party list and not on a direct mandate, as he lost his local race to the CDU candidate.
In late 2008, following a political crisis and Andrea Ypsilanti's resignation, Schäfer-Gümbel became the SPD's party leader in Hesse and the SPD candidate for minister-president of Hesse. However, the SPD fared poorly in the subsequent 2009 special election, which allowed the CDU's Roland Koch to remain in office. Schäfer-Gümbel has been party leader of the opposition SPD since 29 January 2009. Schäfer-Gümbel was a delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2017.
In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Schäfer-Gümbel was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on energy policy, led by Peter Altmaier and Hannelore Kraft.[3]
In March 2019, Schäfer-Gümbel announced that he would resign from active politics by the end of the year and instead join the management board of German development agency GIZ.[4]
Other activities
Corporate boards
- Helaba, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2009)
- SV SparkassenVersicherung, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2015)
Non-profit organizations
- Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2018)[5]
- Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Member[6]
- Friends of the University of Giessen, Member of the Governing Board[7]
- Skyliners Frankfurt, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2015)
- Rheingau Musik Festival, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012)
- Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2011)
- Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, Member of the Synod (since 2010)
- Hessischer Rundfunk, Member of the Broadcasting Council
- German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member
- Avicenna Award, Member of the Advisory Board (2006-2009)
References
- ^ "Germany's Ypsilanti Drops Race, Schaefer-Guembel to Lead Bid". Reuters. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
- ^ "SPD: Schäfer-Gümbel, Schwesig, Dreyer sollen Partei kommissarisch führen - DER SPIEGEL - Politik". www.spiegel.de. Der Spiegel.
- ^ Die SPD in den Arbeitsgruppen Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 23 October 2013.
- ^ Susanne Höll (19 March 2019), SPD-Vize Schäfer-Gümbel verlässt die Politik Süddeutsche Zeitung.
- ^ Bernd Westphal wird neuer Beirats-Vorsitzender beim Wirtschaftsforum der SPD Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , press release of 7 June 2018.
- ^ Members Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).
- ^ Organization Friends of the University of Giessen.
External links
- (in German) Candidacy website
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
