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Marco Bülow, Outspoken Ex-SPD Lawmaker and Lobbying Critic, Dies at 54

A 19-year Bundestag tenure culminated in a 2018 rupture with the SPD over the Grand Coalition, shaping a career devoted to curbing lobby influence.

Overview

  • German outlets citing Ruhr Nachrichten reported that Bülow died after a prolonged serious illness.
  • He served in the Bundestag from 2002 to 2021 and won his Dortmund constituency directly five times.
  • He left the SPD in 2018 in protest at another CDU–SPD coalition and later joined Die Partei, failing to return to parliament in 2021 with 8.6 percent and a fourth-place finish.
  • Bülow authored the books Lobbyland and Korrumpiert, hosted a Lobbyland podcast whose last episode appeared days ago, and worked as an NGO adviser and freelance journalist including for the Berliner Zeitung.
  • Tributes noted his integrity and anti-lobbyism stance, with reactions from Sabine Poschmann, Jens Peick, Fabio de Masi and Dietmar Bartsch.