Stephan Weil

Stephan Weil
Stephan Weil
Lower Saxony
Prime Minister of Lower Saxony
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 February 2013
Preceded by David McAllister
Mayor of Hanover
In office
1 November 2006  19 February 2013
Preceded by Herbert Schmalstieg
Chairman of the SPD of Lower Saxony
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 January 2012
Preceded by Olaf Lies
Member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 February 2013
Preceded by Gisela Konrath
Constituency Hannover-Buchholz
President of the Bundesrat
In office
1 November 2013  31 October 2014
Preceded by Winfried Kretschmann
Succeeded by Volker Bouffier
Personal details
Born 15 December 1958
Hamburg, West Germany
Political party Social Democratic Party of Germany
Spouse(s) Rosemarie Kerkow-Weil (1987-)
Children 1
Occupation Lawyer

Stephan Weil (born 15 December 1958) is a German politician and the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony. On 20 January 2013, the SPD and the Green party won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat.[1] On 19 February 2013, he was elected Prime Minister of Lower Saxony with the votes of SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens.[2] He has been President of the German Bundesrat since November 2013.

Life and political career

Weil has lived in Hanover since 1965, where he completed the abitur at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gymnasium. After his community service on 1978 he began a law degree in Göttingen, which he finished with his first state examination on 1983.[3] He then worked as an lawyer in Hanover, and later a public prosecutor and judge in the Lower Saxony ministry of justice. In 1994, Weil became a member of the ministerial council of Lower Saxony. Weil was also the chairman of the SPD Jusos in Hanover. From 1997 until late October 2006 he held the office of the city treasurer. In May 2006 he was chosen as the SPD candidate for the Hanover mayoral election on 10 September 2006 against the CDU politician Dirk Topeffer and Ingrid Wagemann of Alliance '90/The Greens. He won an absolute majority in the first round. He succeeded Herbert Schmalstieg, the mayor of Hanover for 34 years on 1 November 2006. Weil held the office for 7 years, up to 2013 state election. Due to legal restrictions, Weil was automatically removed from the office of mayor when he became Prime Minister of Lower Saxony on 19 February 2013.[4]

Since 29 January 2008 Weil monthly answers questions from citizens in the TV program Warum Herr Weil (Why Mr. Weil) which airs every third Tuesday every month on HR Fernsehen. On September 18, 2011 Weil announced that he would apply for the top candidate of the SPD for the 2013 state election in Lower Saxony. He was elected as the top candidate with 53.3% of votes on 27 September 2011.[5]

On 20 January 2012 he was voted as the chairman of SPD Lower Saxony.[6] In March, Weil was unanimously chosen as the SPD direct candidate for the Hanover-Buchholz constituency.[7] On the state convention in Hameln, Weil placed first with 98.95%. He won the election by a wafer-thin majority. He was elected vice president of the Bundesrat from 1 March 2013, [8] and became President of the Bundesrat from 1. November 2013.

Stephan Weil is married with Rosemarie Kerkow-Weil, the president of the University of Hanover and together have one son. He is a member of Rotary International. His hobbies are football, running, hiking and reading. He is also a fan of the German soccer club Hanover 96. Today he lives in Hanover-Kircherode and is a member of the SPD local club, Kircherode-Bemerode-Wülferode.[9]

References

  1. "Major Setback for Merkel: Last-Minute Win for Germany's SPD and Greens". Der Spiegel. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  2. Hebel, Christina (19 February 2013). "Neuer Niedersachsen-Premier Weil: Der Anti-Schröder startet durch" [New Lower Saxony PM Weil: The Anti-Schröder takes off]. Spiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  3. Official home page of Stephan Weil (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  4. "Bürgermeister Strauch gratuliert Stephan Weil" [Mayor Strauch congratulates Stephan Weil] (in German). City of Hanover. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  5. Ich will Ministerpräsident werden! (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  6. Stephan Weil, der 95,5 Prozent-Mann (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2013
  7. Das SPD-Damenduell ist entschieden (in German). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  8. Stephan Weil neuer Vizepräsident des Bundesrats (in German). Welt. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  9. Regional web site about the SPD regional club Kirchrode (in German). Neue Presse. Retrieved 21 January 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephan Weil.
Political offices
Preceded by
David McAllister
Prime Minister of Lower Saxony
since 19 February 2013
Incumbent
Preceded by
Herbert Schmalstieg
Mayor of Hanover
1 November 2006 19 February 2013
Succeeded by
Stefan Schostok
Party political offices
Preceded by
Olaf Lies
Chairman of the Social Democratic Party
in Lower Saxony

20 January 2012
Incumbent