25 Facts About Andrea Nahles

Andrea Nahles served as a Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and SPD Youth leader.

Andrea Nahles is known within the party for criticising Gerhard Schroder's Agenda 2010.

Andrea Nahles finished high school through a continuing education program in 1989.

Andrea Nahles obtained an MA after studying politics, philosophy and German studies at the University of Bonn for 20 semesters, during which time she was an assistant to a member of parliament.

In 2004, Andrea Nahles began working towards a doctorate in Germanistics.

Andrea Nahles abandoned her dissertation in 2005 when she returned to the Bundestag.

In 2000, Andrea Nahles was one of the founders of the "Forum Demokratische Linke 21".

Between 2005 and 2009, Andrea Nahles served on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs.

Andrea Nahles was elected as the SPD's secretary general in November 2009 at the party congress held in Dresden.

Andrea Nahles's appointment was widely seen as a signal the SPD would shift to the left.

In early 2015 Andrea Nahles bowed to pressure from Germany's eastern neighbours, particularly Poland, and suspended controls by state authorities to check whether foreign truck drivers were being paid the minimum wage.

In late 2014, Andrea Nahles announced that the combined pension contributions from employers and employees would be cut by a total of 2 billion euros in 2015 due to the high level of reserves.

In 2015, Andrea Nahles commissioned an in-depth study to establish a definition of work-related stress and calculate its economic cost, leading to speculation that the study could pave the way for an "anti-stress act" as proposed by Germany's metalworkers' union.

Andrea Nahles replaced Thomas Oppermann and was the first woman to serve in this role.

Andrea Nahles was elected as the first ever female leader of the Social Democratic Party on 22 April 2018 at the party convention in Wiesbaden.

Andrea Nahles succeeds Olaf Scholz who was acting leader for two months after the resignation of Martin Schulz who led the party to their worst election result since 1933.

Andrea Nahles was the first female leader of the party in its 155-year history.

Andrea Nahles was widely credited with stewarding the party toward another coalition government with Merkel's Christian Democrats.

On 2 June 2019, Andrea Nahles announced that she would resign as SPD leader in the face of personal unpopularity, a major defeat for the SPD in the 2019 European Parliament election, and a record low result in the Forsa poll of 1 June 2019.

Andrea Nahles stated she would resign as leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

From July 2020, Andrea Nahles served as a special advisor to European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit.

From 2020 to 2022, Andrea Nahles served as president of the Federal Posts and Telecommunications Agency in Bonn.

Once a leading voice on the SPD's left, Andrea Nahles has moved steadily towards the centre.

Andrea Nahles is known as a provocative and occasionally brusque orator.

Andrea Nahles' partner was VW manager Horst Neumann from 1997 until 2007.