To revive the party, Nahles will have to keep both centrist and left-wing factions on side and find ways to give the party a distinctive profile even as it serves in a government led by Merkel’s conservative bloc. In previous stints as Merkel’s junior partner, SPD members have complained that the chancellor takes credit for their achievements while their voters are alienated by conservative policies pursued by the coalition. [...]
Nahles, who already leads the SPD group in the Bundestag, is viewed as being on the left of the party, but has shown a pragmatic streak. She is also known for remarks that are unusually blunt for a German politician. [...]
She is also considered a gifted political operator responsible for some of the biggest milestones in the party’s recent history. As labor minister, she put in place Germany’s first minimum wage laws. [...]
At a tense congress in January, Nahles was widely credited with stewarding the party toward another partnership with Merkel. Following a long and meandering address by the party’s then-leader Martin Schulz, she woke up the room with a short, rousing speech in which she exhorted delegates to approve coalition talks.
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