Combative former labour minister Andrea Nahles is first woman to lead party in 155 years

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats have elected Andrea Nahles, a combative and outspoken former labour minister, as the first female leader of the 155-year-old party. “And the ceiling will stay open.”

Well-connected within her party, Nahles, a former leader of its Jusos youth wing, won 66% of the vote, beating Simone Lange, 41, a former policewoman and mayor of the city of Flensburg. A repeat of his 100-percent backing last year amid a euphoric “Schulz hype” would be seen as a bad omen given that in the end the luckless candidate scored just 20 percent in the September 2017 general election, the party’s worst post-war result.
Andrea Nahles is elected as the first female leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.