Tag: Jens Spahn

On Sunday, 68 per cent of the members of the Social Democrats (SPD) voted for another Grand Coalition with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union CDU (and Christian Social Union in Bavaria). Some have remarked that hers was a quiet power, that she changed the style of politics in the German Federal Republic. Before Merkel became Chancellor in 2005, no woman had held high political office. It is often overlooked that West Germany effectively banned women’s right to choose before the unification of Germany in 1990. On her watch, Germany became a more social democracy – with small “s”. The late Guido Westerwelle became Germany’s first openly gay Cabinet Minister when he served as Merkel’s foreign secretary between 2009 and 2013. But what is most remarkable is the near dominance of women in the two largest parties. After an internal jockeying for position, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was chosen as the new Secretary General of the CDU. In Germany, politics is a feminist issue. Matthew Qvortrup’s book Angela Merkel: Europe’s Most Influential Leader is published by Duckworth.