Overview
- The SPD Berlin executive unanimously nominated Bettina König to join Spitzenkandidat Steffen Krach as a double leadership for the state party.
- Formal election is scheduled for the party congress on 8–9 May 2026, while the party continues to examine holding the vote sooner in March.
- The leadership reset follows the resignations of co-chairs Martin Hikel and Nicola Böcker-Giannini, who cited insufficient internal support after recent local setbacks.
- König has served in the Abgeordnetenhaus since 2016, is the SPD’s health policy spokesperson, and hails from the Reinickendorf association.
- Krach, previously nominated on 22 November, is the party’s 2026 lead candidate and a former Berlin science state secretary, and the duo is tasked with unifying the party ahead of the election.