Berlin SPD chairs Nicola Böcker-Giannini and Martin Hikel have announced their resignation effective end of the month. They are responding to a lack of support within the party. Steffen Krach has been nominated as a potential successor.
Nicola Böcker-Giannini and Martin Hikel, who have led the Berlin SPD since 2024, have announced their resignation. The decision was confirmed from party circles and previously reported by B.Z. and dpa. The pair informed the acting state executive board of the SPD, with the step taking effect on October 31. Their term was originally set to run until June.
The withdrawal comes after internal setbacks. Böcker-Giannini failed to secure a list position in her Reinickendorf district association on Saturday for the 2026 state parliament election and lost the vote for third place on the district list to a rival. Hikel, mayor of Berlin-Neukölln, was renominated for his position two weeks ago with just 68.5 percent. He cited insufficient backing as the reason for not running in 2026.
Steffen Krach was unanimously nominated as successor and could be elected in the spring. He currently serves as regional president in Hannover and is the SPD's top candidate for the upcoming Berlin election. From 2014 to 2021, he was state secretary for science in Berlin.
Integration commissioner Güner Balci leveled serious accusations against Hikel's critics in an SPIEGEL interview. Ten months before the September 20, 2026, election for the state parliament and district assemblies, the SPD polls at 13 to 16 percent, trailing the CDU and Left party, and sometimes the Greens and AfD. The party has been the junior partner in a CDU-led government since 2023.