SPD: Matthias Miersch takes on the toughest job in politics

The photographers must have been happy when they aimed their telephoto lenses at the elevators in the Willy Brandt House. It would have fit too well into the picture if the new SPD top trio can be seen in the first pictures together, taking the elevator down, in a sense contrary to the Social Democrats’ current poll numbers.

But it was too early to rejoice, and on Tuesday afternoon the team took the stairs with great agility into the well-filled atrium of the Berlin party headquarters. They didn’t fall into this little trap. This performance has to be right, everyone involved knows that. Above all, Matthias Miersch, who has taken on the toughest job that the Berlin political establishment has to offer: SPD general secretary.

The 55-year-old succeeds Kevin Kühnert, who announced his resignation the day before for health reasons. Kühnert has reached the end of his strength, and in the future probably also the end of the patience of his comrades, who were not too happy with the performance of their former hope as campaign manager.

After all, things have not been good for the comrades for a long time. It would now take two miracles to save Olaf Scholz as Chancellor. There is only a year left until the next federal election, the poor poll numbers seem to have been cast in concrete, and unrest in the party is growing.

Why should the stumbling Social Democrats be taken into account? The answer is not obvious, but from now on it should be given by Matthias Miersch, now the highest speaker and organizer of the German Social Democrats. As a result, the new hope in the Willy Brandt House speaks of a “damn great responsibility.” His first words as SPD general secretary sound a bit wooden, as if he had rehearsed them in front of the mirror – this job obviously makes even sophisticated political professionals like Miersch slightly nervous.

With a view to the upcoming federal election, they were looking for a person who would be “immediately operational,” says Lars Klingbeil, the party leader. The professionalism, clarity and also a compass to lead the campaign and the house. “The SPD has to be powerful,” says co-leader Saskia Esken.

The SPD leaders thought of him directly, that’s the good news for Miersch. The bad thing: The pressure to succeed is gigantic, and so is the height of the fall.

The new SPD general secretary doesn’t want to be a “simple yes-man”.

Ultimately, the disappointment of many comrades with his predecessor Kevin Kühnert is also due to the high expectations that were projected onto him. Clear rhetoric is one thing, organization is another – and perhaps much more important in this job. As Juso boss, Kühnert did not shy away from conflict, pointed things out, denounced them – in doing so he drove the grand coalition ahead of him, not least his own party. Fits the profile of a general secretary perfectly.

Actually. When he was elected to office in 2021, Kühnert had to disarm rhetorically and suddenly change course Chancellor’s Party defend – hard political work for someone who had always played attack. Especially with a Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz who is anything but popular and doesn’t always make things easy for his party.

Miersch is experienced enough not to enter into comparisons with Kühnert, even though the journalists present are actively trying. The 55-year-old jokes that the age difference alone, which even modern medicine can no longer change, has now noticeably thawed. That’s true, of course, also in the sense that Miersch has significantly more experience than his predecessor – not least in leadership and organizational issues.

He has been head of the SPD Left in the Bundestag since 2015, deputy parliamentary group leader since 2017 and chairman of the SPD Hanover district since 2019. He was repeatedly traded as the successor to parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich. The next career step was only a matter of time, but it was a long time coming. “Maybe sometimes there is something like fate in life,” says Miersch, who quickly accepted the post of Secretary General.

He wants to set new accents, that much will become clear on Tuesday afternoon. It will be exciting to see whether party leader Klingbeil – who wants to play a more important role in election campaign planning – will also grant him the space to raise his profile. After all, both are considered self-confident Lower Saxons with their own minds. Another Lower Saxon, who has moved his adopted home to Hamburg and Potsdam, can definitely be prepared for something: Olaf Scholz.

Miersch assured the Chancellor of his full support, but also made it clear: “I will not be comfortable and just be a yes-man.” Then a slight smile flashes across Klingbeil’s face. The SPD leader is also increasingly distancing himself from the Chancellor, puffing himself up in front of him and dictating to him the expectations of the party, which is becoming increasingly impatient with its frontman.

“This party has to fight and argue with each other,” says Miersch, and in his eyes it would be “completely wrong if we all acted in a streamlined manner.” This should also fundamentally impress the SPD leadership. However, Miersch was asked about the conflict lines in the SPD – and there are quite a few of them with the “so-called security package” (Miersch) or the stationing of US missiles in Germany. So there is still a lot to do and to bring peace.

Most Social Democrats can probably rally behind the following Miersch sentence: “This Merz CDU embodies pretty much everything that I don’t stand for.” The tone for the election campaign seems to have already been set.