Overview
- Co-chairs Martin Hikel and Nicola Böcker-Giannini told the executive board on Sunday they will resign at the end of the month.
- The pair cited insufficient backing and "ever-stronger blockades" within party bodies that they say thwarted their reform plans.
- The executive board unanimously proposed Steffen Krach, recently chosen as the 2026 lead candidate, to become state chair.
- A formal vote is slated for a spring party congress, with the deputy chairs running day-to-day operations in the interim.
- The resignations follow local nomination setbacks for both leaders (Hikel’s 68.5% in Neukölln; Böcker-Giannini’s 17–49 loss in Reinickendorf) and come as polls put the SPD near 13–16% ahead of the September 20, 2026 election.