
Germany’s SPD is taking a huge gamble with its new leadership. Will it pay off?
The newly crowned leadership duo of Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) has hardly had a great welcome. Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken beat the finance minister, Olaf Scholz, and his running mate, Klara Geywitz, by 53% to 45% in the final round of the membership votes. The response was vociferous: the imminent death of the SPD was the verdict from most of the German media.
The vote certainly marks a significant turning point in German politics not just for the SPD but also for the government – in which the SPD is still a junior partner – and for the politics of the centre left.… Seguir leyendo »