Schulz, 61, who has emerged in recent weeks as Germany’s version of the US democrat Bernie Sanders, earning support in particular among young voters who have dubbed him the SPD’s “fresh wind”, secured all 605 votes at a special party conference in Berlin on Sunday, a record result beating even Kurt Schumacher, the party’s popular postwar leader, who secured 99.71% of the vote in 1948. The SPD has for years trailed the CDU/CSU, but its support surged in January when Schulz announced his intention to stand for party leader, and Sigmar Gabriel, its leader for the past seven and a half years, agreed to step down. The 61-year-old, who was until recently the president of the European Parliament, said his party would work to strengthen international co-operation, including with the United States, but rejected what he called the “misogynistic, anti-democratic and racist” rhetoric of President Donald Trump.
The Social Democratic Party of Germany endorses Martin Schulz as its leader.