Bärbel Bas has resigned as co-leader of the Social Democrats and as Germany’s labour minister, citing the death of her stepdaughter and “open attacks” inside Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition. It is a blow to the junior partner in a government already arguing over pensions and employment law.
Bärbel Bas, one of the Social Democrats’ most senior figures, resigned on Monday, October 12, DW reported.
She stepped down from both of her posts: co-leader of the SPD and labour minister in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.
Her Reasons
Bas, 58, cited the death of her stepdaughter and what she called “open attacks” inside the ruling coalition between the SPD and Merz’s Christian Democrat (CDU) bloc.
“I am currently unable to muster the strength to fully carry out my government and party duties on short notice, I have decided to step down from both offices,” she said.
She said she needed time to process her grief, and that her party deserved strong leadership. She added that recent infighting between the SPD and CDU over policy hastened her decision.
The Coalition Tension
The CDU has accused Bas of delaying or blocking several reforms the conservatives want to pass, including changes to Germany’s struggling pension system and to employment laws.
Bas said she informed both Merz and her co-leader Lars Klingbeil before making her statement public. Merz thanked her for her “trustworthy cooperation” and said he respected her decision.
Who Takes Over
DW reported that she is to be replaced by Alexander Schweitzer, the former SPD premier of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Her Career
- Member of parliament since 2009
- President of the Bundestag from 2021 under the SPD-led coalition of then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, until 2025
- Labour minister and SPD co-leader alongside Klingbeil since 2025, after the SPD became the junior partner to Merz’s conservatives
- Counted among the more progressive members of the SPD
What It Means
Her departure comes while the conservatives are pressing for pension and employment reforms that they say she delayed or blocked. How her successor deals with those disputes will show whether the friction she described eases.
Image: Bärbel Bas, official portrait for the SPD parliamentary group, 2021 (file photo). Photo: photothek.net / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
