The former Young Socialist helped prevent Olaf Scholz from becoming party leader. In his current position he was responsible for the election campaign and was therefore partly responsible for the poor results. His complete withdrawal from politics still comes as a surprise.
Kevin Kühnert has served as SPD General Secretary since 2021.
Uwe Koch / Imago
Almost a year before the upcoming federal election, the German Chancellor’s Party, the SPD, has to look for a new organizer for the election campaign. Surprisingly, the general secretary responsible for this, Kevin Kühnert, announced his resignation from the party office with immediate effect this Monday. He also resigned from the parliamentary mandate he won in 2021. Furthermore, he does not want to run for the Bundestag again.
In the statement, Kühnert cited health reasons for his complete withdrawal from federal politics. He believes that an election victory for the SPD in the upcoming federal election campaign is still possible, despite all the polls. To do this, however, it is necessary for the SPD’s election campaigners to outgrow themselves. “I can’t grow beyond myself at the moment because unfortunately I’m not healthy,” wrote Kühnert. “I need the energy that is necessary for my office and an election campaign in the foreseeable future in order to get healthy again.” Kühnert left open what caused him illness. According to information from the “Bild” newspaper, it is said to be a mental illness.
More loyal to Scholz than expected
The Berlin native took over the post of Secretary General in December 2021 shortly after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was sworn in. Until the very end, the eloquent and controversial 35-year-old was more loyal to the head of government than expected. Just a few days ago, in an interview with “Spiegel”, he supported him regarding his candidacy for chancellor. This met with occasional criticism within the party because of the devastating personal poll results of the incumbent and the SPD. “We are appointing the Chancellor and want to win with him again,” said Kühnert.
It was initially anything but certain that the Chancellor and Secretary General would work together relatively quietly since they both took office. With Kühnert someone had finally moved to the top of the internal party organization who successfully helped prevent Scholz from becoming party leader. In 2019, Kühnert campaigned for the duo Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans. The two left-wing parties prevailed, not least thanks to Kühnert’s help, in a runoff election against the originally favored duo Olaf Scholz and Klara Geywitz.
It was also initially suspected that Kühnert would use the unprecedentedly high proportion of young socialists in the SPD parliamentary group to put pressure on the Chancellor from the left. Kühnert was elected head of the SPD’s youth party in 2017. He gave up his office early because of his candidacy for the Bundestag in 2021.
Critic of the grand coalition
Kühnert became known to a wider public primarily through his criticism of a continuation of the grand coalition between the Union and the SPD under Chancellor Angela Merkel. This is at the expense of the SPD, argued Kühnert in 2018. The social democracy must therefore renew itself in the opposition. Although he was ultimately unable to prevail, Kühnert laid the foundation for his rise within the party.
His term as general secretary was overshadowed by a series of severe election defeats for the SPD. The party achieved a historically poor result in the European elections in June this year. In this context, criticism of Kühnert’s campaign management was also expressed. The two party leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken thanked Kühnert profusely in a statement on Monday. His recovery must now be the focus. The doors of the SPD are always open to him.
