Bärbel Bas | |
|---|---|
 Bas in 2025 | |
| Minister of Labour and Social Affairs | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Friedrich Merz |
| Preceded by | Hubertus Heil |
| Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 27 June 2025 Serving with Lars Klingbeil | |
| Deputy | Petra Köpping Serpil Midyatli Achim Post Anke Rehlinger Alexander Schweitzer |
| General Secretary | Tim Klüssendorf |
| Preceded by | Saskia Esken |
| President of the Bundestag | |
| In office 26 October 2021 – 25 March 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Wolfgang Schäuble |
| Succeeded by | Julia Klöckner |
| Deputy Leader of theSocial Democratic Party in theBundestag | |
| In office 24 September 2019 – 26 September 2021 | |
| Leader | Rolf Mützenich |
| Preceded by | Karl Lauterbach |
| Succeeded by | Dagmar Schmidt |
| Member of theBundestag forDuisburg I | |
| Assumed office 27 October 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Petra Weis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-05-03)3 May 1968 (age 57) |
| Political party | SPD (since 1988) |
| Spouse | |
Bärbel Bas (German:[ˈbɛʁbl̩ˈbaːs]; born 3 May 1968) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving asFederal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in thegovernment ofChancellorFriedrich Merz since 2025. Also since 2025, she has been serving as one of two co-leaders of her party, alongsideLars Klingbeil.[1]
Bas has been amember of the GermanBundestag since the federal election in 2009. She served as the 14thpresident of the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025.[2] She also served as the deputy chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group under the leadership of chairmanRolf Mützenich from 2019 to 2021.[3]
Bas was born in 1968, in the Walsum district ofDuisburg. In 1984, at the age of sixteen, she obtained hersecondary school diploma. From 1985 to 1987 she served an apprenticeship as an office assistant at theDuisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (DVG), where she worked from 1987 to 2001 as a clerk, and later moved to the company's own health insurance department. From 1986 to 1988 she was a representative of youth and trainees at DVG and from 1988 to 1998 member of theworks council and employee representative on the supervisory board of DVG.[4]
From 1994 to 1997, Bas completed a vocational training programme to become a social security specialist. That was followed, in 2000–2002, by in-service training as a health insurance business administrator and the instructor diploma 2003. From 2002 to 2006 she was a deputy board member of the health insurance fund EVS. From 2005 to 2007, she completed further training as a human resources economist (VWA) at the Administrative and Business Academy Essen. Subsequently, Bas served as Head of the Department of Personnel Services at the BKK Futur from 2007 to 2009.[4]
In October 1988, Bas joined the SPD. A year later she became a member of theJusos sub-district board Duisburg, of which she was chairwoman from 1990 to 1998. Since then she has been a member of the subdistrict board of the Duisburg SPD. She served as deputy chairwoman since 2006. Since 2004, she has been a member of the Regional CouncilNiederrhein, since 2009 a member of the RuhrSPD and since 2010 chairwoman of the SPD state party council inNorth Rhine-Westphalia.
From 1994 to 2002 Bärbel Bas was a member of the City Council of Duisburg.
In the2009 federal election, Bas was elected in the constituency ofDuisburg I for the SPD as an MP in the17th German Bundestag. She was able to defend her direct mandate in the2013 federal election, the2017 federal election, the2021 federal election, and the2025 federal election.[4] In the 17th Bundestag she was a full member of the Committee on Health, to which she continued to be a deputy member since in the 18th Bundestag. From 2014, she was a member of the parliament'sCouncil of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation. She was also a deputy member of theGemeinsamer Ausschuss (Joint Committee) of theBundesrat and Bundestag.
Within her parliamentary group, Bas belongs to the left party wing of the SPD, the Parliamentary Left (Parlamentarische Linke).[5] From December 2013 until 2017, she served as Parliamentary Director (Parlamentarischer Geschäftsführer,Chief whip) of the SPD parliamentary group. Bas later served as the group´s deputy chairwoman under the leadership of chairmanRolf Mützenich from 2019 until 2021.[3]
In addition to her committee assignments, Bas is a member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of Central America.
On 26 October 2021, Bas was elected as the 14thPresident of the Bundestag for the 20th Bundestag, with 576 votes for, 90 against, and 58 abstentions. Bas was the third female Bundestag president, afterAnnemarie Renger (SPD) andRita Süssmuth (CDU).[6]
In thegovernment ofChancellorFriedrich Merz Bas has been serving asFederal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs since May 2025.
In June 2025, Bas was elected as one of two co-leaders alongside withLars Klingbeil of her party, SPD.[1]
Spain:
Grand Cross of theOrder of Isabella the Catholic (11 October 2022)[9][10]
Ukraine:
Member 2nd Class of theOrder of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (21 October 2022)[11]
Media related toBärbel Bas at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Bundestag 2021–2025 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
