Juso chief Philipp Türmen calls for SPD leadership overhaul as poll support sinks

Juso leader Philipp Türmen has openly criticised the SPD’s top leadership, targeting co‑chairs Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas. He said the party’s current poll standing of around 12‑13 percent is “absolutely unacceptable” and warned that a change in personnel may become necessary. Türmen outlined three scenarios: the current duo could revive the party’s momentum, they could reshuffle internal roles, or a “quasi‑revolution” could emerge, potentially triggered by upcoming state elections.

He linked the SPD’s decline to its performance in the February 2025 federal election, where the party fell to a historic 16.4 percent, and blamed the present red‑black coalition under Chancellor Friedrich Merz for weakening the party’s profile. Türmen also referenced a similar crisis in Austria’s SPÖ, underscoring the broader challenge for social‑democratic parties in the region.