Lars Klingbeil | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Klingbeil in 2025 | |
| Vice Chancellor of Germany | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Friedrich Merz |
| Preceded by | Robert Habeck |
| Minister of Finance | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Friedrich Merz |
| Preceded by | Jörg Kukies |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 11 December 2021 Serving with Saskia Esken(2021–2025) andBärbel Bas(since 2025) | |
| Deputy | Petra Köpping Serpil Midyatli Achim Post Anke Rehlinger Alexander Schweitzer |
| General Secretary | Kevin Kühnert Matthias Miersch Tim Klüssendorf |
| Preceded by | Norbert Walter-Borjans |
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party in theBundestag | |
| In office 26 February 2025 – 6 May 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Rolf Mützenich |
| Succeeded by | Matthias Miersch |
| General Secretary of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany | |
| In office 8 December 2017 – 11 December 2021 | |
| Leader | Martin Schulz Andrea Nahles Saskia Esken Norbert Walter-Borjans |
| Preceded by | Hubertus Heil |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Kühnert |
| Member of theBundestag forLower Saxony | |
| Assumed office 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Reinhard Grindel |
| Constituency | Rotenburg I – Heidekreis |
| In office 27 October 2009 – 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Constituency | See list |
| In office 24 January 2005 – 18 October 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Jann-Peter Janssen |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Constituency | See list |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1978-02-23)23 February 1978 (age 47) |
| Political party | Social Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Leibniz University Hannover(AB, MA) |
Lars Klingbeil ([ˈlaʁsˈklɪŋbaɪl]; born 23 February 1978) is a German politician who has been serving as theVice Chancellor of Germany andFederal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. A member of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), he has served as the SPD'sCo-leader since 2021, together withSaskia Esken (2021–2025) andBärbel Bas (since 2025).
Klingbeil was the General Secretary of the SPD from December 2017 to December 2021.[1] Since 2001 he has been a member of the City Council ofMunster and a member of the District Council of Heide. He was aMember of the Bundestag for about nine months in 2005, and has been a member again since the2009 Federal Election. From 2003 till 2007, Klingbeil was the Deputy Leader of theJusos, SPD's youth wing. Klingbeil is a member of theSeeheim Circle,[2][3][4] the more economically right-leaning faction of the SPD.
The son of a soldier, Klingbeil was born into a working-class family in Soltau.[5] He has a sister.[6]
After graduating from school with hisAbitur in Munster and completing hisalternative civilian service, in 1999 Klingbeil began studyingpolitical science atLeibniz University Hannover, graduating in 2004 with aM.A. degree. From 2001 to 2004 he received a scholarship from theFriedrich Ebert Foundation (FES); in 2001, he completed an internship in the foundation's New York office and witnessed theSeptember 11 attacks.[7][8]
Whilst at university, Klingbeil worked in the constituency offices ofChancellorGerhard Schröder andHeino Wiese [de] from 2001 until 2003. After finishing his studies he worked as youth education advisor for theSocial Democratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia.[9]
From 24 January 2005 until 18 October 2005 Klingbeil was aMember of the Bundestag following the resignation ofJann-Peter Janssen. During these nine months Klingbeil was a member of the Committee on European Affairs, the Committee on Health and a deputy member of the Defence Committee of the Bundestag.
Leaving office after the2005 national elections, Klingbeil worked as chief of staff to the chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Lower SaxonyGarrelt Duin. Furthermore, Klingbeil was a member of the SPD leadership's International Commission from 2004 until 2007, and since 2006 he has been the deputy leader of the SPD in the Soltau-Falingbostel regional council.
Klingbeil stood in the2009 federal elections in the constituency Rotenburg I – Soltau Fallingbostel, however, he lost with 35.2% of the vote against theCDU's candidateReinhard Grindel who had won 40.2% of the vote. He did manage to enter the Bundestag as aList MP for Lower Saxony.
Klingbeil has been a member of the Defence Committee since 2009 as well as being a deputy member of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Media. Since 2013, he has also been leading the Bundestag group of SPD parliamentarians fromLower Saxony, the second largest delegations within the SPD parliamentary group. In addition to his committee assignments, he served as deputy chairman of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group from 2010 until 2013.
Klingbeil managed to win the constituency ofRotenburg I – Heidekreis in the2017 elections, winning with 41.2% of vote. He contested the same constituency at the2021 German federal election.
On 19 October 2017, Social Democratic Party chairmanMartin Schulz nominated Klingbeil as secretary general. He was confirmed on 8 December 2017 with 70.62% of the vote at the SPD Party Conference in Berlin, succeedingHubertus Heil who had announced his resignation after the SPD disastrous loss in the2017 election. In the negotiations to form afourth cabinet underChancellorAngela Merkel following the elections, he was part of the leadership team of his party's delegation. He also led the working group on digital policy, alongsideHelge Braun andDorothee Bär.
On 30 April 2025, Klingbeil was announced as the next Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Finance inFriedrich Merz's cabinet.[10] He was sworn in on 6 May 2025.
In November 2025, Klingbeil visited China as part of the biannual financial dialogue talks between the two countries. During the visit, he met with Vice PremierHe Lifeng andWang Huning, thechairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[11] He also met withLiu Haixing, thehead of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, in his capacity as the co-leader of the Social Democratic Party as part of the party dialogue between the SPD and the CCP established in 1984.[12]
Klingbeil has been married to Lena-Sophie Müller since 2019.[18] In 2024, Müller gave birth to the couple's son.[19] The family lives in Munster and Berlin'sCharlottenburg district.[20]
In a 2025 interview, Klingbeil revealed that he had undergone treatment fororal cancer in 2014.[21]
Klingbeil is an avid supporter of theFC Bayern soccer team, and played in a punk rock band, Sleeping Silence, in his youth.[22]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Secretary of theSocial Democratic Party 2017–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Social Democratic Party 2021–present | Incumbent |
