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Torsten Herbst | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Herbst in 2017 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2017–2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1973-08-22)22 August 1973 (age 52) |
| Political party | FDP |
| Alma mater | Dresden University of Applied Sciences |
Torsten Herbst (born 22 August 1973) is a German politician of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of theBundestag from the state ofSaxony from 2017 to 2025.[1] In 2021, he was electedwhip of the FDP parliamentary group.
Herbst grew up in the Zschertnitz district ofDresden, where he attended the "Gottfried Semper" polytechnic secondary school and later the Dresden-Plauen grammar school. He did his civilian service in a hospital. He then studied economics at theUniversity of Applied Sciences in Dresden, graduating with a degree in International Business Studies. During his studies he also attendedLiverpool John Moores University in 1995/96.[2]
After graduating, Herbst worked as an editorial assistant atMitteldeutscher Rundfunk and later in the press office of ADAC Sachsen. From 1999 until he entered the Bundestag, he worked for the Dresden-based advertising and PR agency Zastrow + Zastrow. In this role, he advised medium-sized companies on strategic marketing and public relations. He continued to practise his profession to a limited extent during his time as a member of the Landtag.
Herbst was a founding member of the Young Liberal Action Saxony (Jungliberale Aktion Sachsen, JuliA) in the post-reunification period and its state chair from 1997 to 2000. He was elected deputy state chair of the FDP Saxony in 1999, was secretary general of the FDP Saxony from 2005 to 2019, and has been its treasurer since 2019. Since 2019, he has also been a member of the federal executive committee of the FDP.[3]
In 1999, Herbst was elected deputy state chairman of the FDP in Saxony, and from 2005 to 2019, he was secretary general of the state association, under the leadership of chairmanHolger Zastrow.[4] From 2004 to 2014, he was a member of theState Parliament of Saxony.
Herbst became a member of the Bundestag in the2017 German federal election. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure. From 2019, he was also a member of the federal executive committee of the FDP, under the leadership of chairChristian Lindner.[5]
In the negotiations to form a so-calledtraffic light coalition of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), theGreen Party and the FDP following the2021 German elections, Herbst was part of his party's delegation in the working group on economic affairs, co-chaired byCarsten Schneider,Cem Özdemir andMichael Theurer.[6]
