Power of the left is crumbling
Conservative wing in the SPD is growing
12/16/2022 1:57 am
For many years, the parliamentary left dominated the SPD parliamentary group. But now the old balance of power is crumbling. The conservative Seeheimer Kreis is gaining more and more influence.
According to a media report, power is shifting in the SPD parliamentary group. As the “Spiegel” reports, the conservative Seeheimer circle has caught up with the long-dominant Parliamentary Left (PL) among the deputies. Accordingly, the Seeheimers now state their number of members at 92, and the PL has 94 members. According to information from the magazine, two other members are considering leaving the left wing.
Younger MPs in particular “don’t want to have endless theoretical debates, but instead want to solve problems pragmatically,” Seeheimer boss Dirk Wiese was quoted as saying by “Spiegel”. Recently there have been several direct changes from the left to the right wing. The former state chairwoman from Saxony-Anhalt, Katrin Budde, joined the Seeheimer Kreis. “In the end, I no longer felt that I belonged to the PL,” the social democrat told the “Spiegel”. “The debates were too theoretical for me, too top-heavy. That wasn’t enough practical left-wing politics for me.” Her break with the PL came in 2019, “when, of all things, many leftists left Andrea Nahles in the parliamentary group”.
Marja-Liisa Völlers from Lower Saxony has also changed. “My mistake was that I didn’t look at all three trends at first,” Völlers told the “Spiegel”. She first went to PL because she knew some colleagues there well. But then it became clear to her that the pragmatic approach of the Seeheimers was more in line with her. She is now part of the trio at the head of the Seeheimers.
Almost 40 years ago, the Seeheimers were the strongest trend in the SPD parliamentary group. The members of this group describe their political orientation as pragmatic and solution-oriented. A prominent member is SPD leader Lars Klingbeil. The year it was founded is 1974. From 1978 to 1984 the politicians met in Seeheim in Hesse.