From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hannelore Kraft
Hannelore Kraft
Hannelore Kraft Preceded by Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Peer Steinbrück
Personal details
Born Hannelore Külzhammer
12 June 1961
Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
Nationality German
Political party Social Democratic Party
Alma mater Comprehensive University of Duisburg
Religion Lutheranism, former Roman Catholic
Website www.hannelore-kraft.de
Hannelore Kraft (née Külzhammer; born 12 June 1961) is
a German politician. She is the leader of the Social De-
mocratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia and the cur-
rent Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia. Kraft
is the first woman to fill this post since it was created in
1946. She has served on the SPD’s federal executive since
November 2009, and is one of the four federal deputy
Hannelore Kraft chairmen.[1] Between 1 November 2010 and 31 October
Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia 2011 she was the President of the German Bundesrat af-
ter Jens Böhrnsen. She was the first female office holder.
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 July 2010
Biography
Kraft graduated in 1980, and first trained as a bank clerk.
Preceded by Jürgen Rüttgers
She commenced her studies in economics at Compre-
President of the German Bundesrat hensive University of Duisburg in 1982, and studied at
In office King’s College London in 1986 and 1987. She completed
1 November 2010 – 31 October 2011 her studies in Duisburg in 1989.
From 1989 until 2001, she was a consultant and pro-
Preceded by Jens Böhrnsen
ject manager at the Centre for Innovation and Technolo-
Succeeded by Horst Seehofer gy (ZENIT GmbH) in Mülheim an der Ruhr, and was head
of the local European Info Centre.
Chairwoman of SPD North Rhine-Westphalia
In 1994, Kraft joined the SPD, and on 2 June 2000 was
Incumbent elected to the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. Ini-
Assumed office
tially representing electoral district 74 (Mülheim II-Essen
20 January 2007 VII), she switched to electoral district 64 (Mülheim I) in
2005.
Preceded by Jochen Dieckmann
On 24 April 2001, she replaced Detlev Samland as Min-
Vice Chairwoman of SPD ister for Federal and European Affairs, and then under
with Klaus Wowereit, Manuela Schwesig and Olaf Scholz
Wowereit, Minister-President Peer Steinbrück, served from 12
November 2002 until 31 May 2005 as Minister for Science
Incumbent
and Research.
Assumed office After the SPD lost the 2005 state election in North
13 November 2009 Rhine-Westphalia, Kraft was elected leader of the SPD’s
parliamentary group with 95.7% of the votes, hence be-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hannelore Kraft
Preceded by Minister-President of North Rhine-West- Succeeded by
Jürgen Rüttgers phalia Incumbent
2010 — Present
coming the Opposition Leader in North Rhine-West-
phalia. In 2007, she was elected chairman of the SPD in
References
Northrhine-Westphalia. [1] spd.de, accessed 10 May 2010 (German)
On 13 November 2009, Kraft was elected as one of the [2] SPD in NRW feiert ihre Spitzenkandidatin Kraft
four vice chairmen of the federal SPD under chairman (SPD in NRW celebrates its top candidate Kraft), Die
Sigmar Gabriel, receiving the highest overall vote. Welt (online edition), 26 February 2010 (German)
A party congress in February 2010 affirmed that she [3] http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2010-07/
was the SPD’s candidate for Minister-President at the wahl-kraft-ministerpraesidentin (German)
May 2010 state election.[2] [4] http://www.ekir.de/an-der-ruhr/
The state election on 9 May 2010 resulted in a near kirchenkreis_52076.php (German)
tie with the governing CDU at 67 seats, and with Kraft’s
preferred red-green coalition one seat short of an overall
majority. After many parallel negotiations an various
External links
coalitions, Kraft was elected Minister-President of North • Official website (German)
Rhine-Westphalia on 14 July 2010 on the second ballot Persondata
with a sufficient plurality of votes, coming from the So- Name Kraft, Hannelore
cial Democrats and Alliance 90/The Greens, while the
Alternative Külzhammer, Hannelore
Left Party abstained. Kraft formed a minority govern-
names
ment with ministers of Social Democrats and Greens.[3]
In October 2010, Kraft was elected President of the Short de- German politician
Bundesrat, according to the customary rotation of the scription
chairmanship between the Bundesländer. She assumed Date of birth 12 June 1961
office on 1 November 2010, becoming the first female of-
Place of Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-
fice holder, remaining in office until 31 October 2011.
birth Westphalia, Germany
Hannelore Kraft is married and has one son. She was
formerly a Catholic but later converted to Protestantism, Date of
joining the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, a mem- death
ber church of the Evangelical Church in Germany.[4] Place of
death
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hannelore_Kraft&oldid=464199430"
Categories:
• Ministers-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1961 births
• People from Mülheim
• German Lutherans
• Alumni of King's College London
• Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
• German women in politics
• Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
• Living people
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