Hubertus Heil

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Hubertus Heil (born November 3, 1972 in Hildesheim) is a German politician.He has been secretary general of the SPD sinde 2005.

After receiving his Abitur in 1992 Heil first served his Zivildienst,then began studying sociology and political science at the University of Potsdam and the Distance University Hagen in 1995.From 1995 to 1997 Heil was executive director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Arbeitnehmerfragen,a leftist study group inside the SPD,representing the workers' wing of the party,although during his Jusos time he was reputed to belong to the undogmatical reform socialists' wing of the youth organisation.

[edit] Party career

Hubertus Heil joined the SPD in 1988.At first he was engaged at the Jusos and he was their chairman in the district of Braunschweig from 1991 to 1995.Today he is deputy cairman of the SPD in Braunschweig. In November 2005 the then designated party leader Matthias Platzeck proposed the relatively unknown Heil as candidate for the new secretary general,after Franz Müntefering had resigned as SPD chairman and the elected secretary general Andrea Nahles had abandoned.Heil was elected new secretary general of the SPD,but he received only 61,2% of the votes,about 20% less than his predecessor Klaus Uwe Benneter.

[edit] Parlamentary career

Heil has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998.He was a member of the executive board of the SPD's parlamentary group from 2002 to 2004 and from 2003 to 2005 he was chairman of its study group on Telecommunications and Posts. In 2005 Heil was for the third time directly elected into the Bundestag by winning in his electoral district Gifhorn-Peine.