Kevin Kühnert

Kevin Kühnert (born 1 July 1989) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Kevin Kühnert
Kühnert in 2019
Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
6 December 2019
LeaderSaskia Esken
Norbert Walter-Borjans
Preceded byOlaf Scholz
Chairman of the Jusos
Assumed office
24 November 2017
Preceded byJohanna Uekermann
Personal details
Born (1989-07-01) 1 July 1989
West Berlin, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Political partySPD

Since 24 November 2017, Kühnert has been Federal Chairman of the Jusos. Previously, he served as deputy chairman.

Early life and career

Kühnert was born in West Berlin. His father is a tax clerk, and his mother works in a job centre. He was named after the footballer Kevin Keegan.[1] He passed his final exam at the Beethoven-Gymnasium in Lankwitz in 2008, where he also served as pupil's spokesman. He then completed a voluntary social year (German: Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr) in a Berlin-based organization for children and young people.

Kühnert initially worked over three years in a call center, then studying journalism and communication science at the Free University Berlin, but never graduated. In 2016, he enrolled for a degree in political science at the Fernuniversität Hagen, but suspended studies after becoming Juso chairman. In 2014, he began working in the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, first for Dilek Kolat, then Melanie Kühnemann.

Political career

Kühnert joined the SPD in 2005 and chaired the Jusos in Berlin from 2012 to 2015. Since 2015, he acted as deputy Jusos Federal Chairman and was responsible for tax policy, pension policy, structural policy, right-wing extremism, and migration policy, as well as social media work. When Johanna Uekermann did not run as a candidate again, in November 2017, the Juso federal congress in Saarbrücken elected Kühnert as chairman, with 225 of 297 votes.

In terms of local politics, Kühnert is active in the district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg as a member of the district council.

During the campaign for the SPD party member vote on the 2018 coalition agreement of Germany, Kühnert, along with the #NoGroKo (No Grand Coalition) initiative, promoted the No campaign.[2][3] At a SPD national convention in 2019, he was elected as one of the five deputies of the party’s co-chairs Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans, alongside Klara Geywitz, Hubertus Heil, Serpil Midyatli and Anke Rehlinger.[4] He had previously endorsed Esken and Walter-Borjans in their successful bid for the leadership of the party in 2019.[1]

In an August 2020 interview with Der Tagesspiegel Kühnert announced that he would step down as chair of the Jusos, saying that the "time was right" for new leadership in advance of an anticipated federal election in 2021. He also indicated that he would seek selection as the SPD candidate for his home Bundestag constituency of Berlin Tempelhof – Schöneberg for the next election.[1][5]

Other activities

Political positions

In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit in May 2019, Kühnert described himself as being a democratic socialist,[6] promoting the communisation of large firms and the expropriation of owners from companies like BMW and people who own more than one house or apartment. In his opinion, real democratic socialism has never been tried.[7][8][9]

Recognition

In May 2018, Kühnert was chosen as a "Next Generation Leader" by Time because of the resistance he launched against the grand coalition that nearly managed to topple Chancellor Angela Merkel and led to a national debate about the future of the SPD and the future of German politics in general.[10] In August 2020 he was described as "a rising star on the left" in Germany by The Guardian.[1]

Personal life

In March 2018, Kühnert came out as gay in an interview with the magazine Siegessäule.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

gollark: I have a very rough untested idea of how it operates. How coral could know I have no clue.
gollark: How would I know?
gollark: Technically, your preferred ones are a subset of that.
gollark: Oh. I only have all possible programs.
gollark: It uses algorithms and coding.

References
  1. Connolly, Kate (4 August 2020). "Rising star of German left quits SPD youth role to run for parliament". theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. Die SPD hat entschieden, FAZ.net
  3. Heiße Diskussionen mit dem Juso-Vorsitzenden, FAZ.net
  4. SPD-Vizechefs: Kevin Kühnert bekommt mehr Stimmen als Hubertus Heil Der Spiegel, December 6, 2019.
  5. Zawatka-Gerlach, Ulrich (4 August 2020). "Kevin Kühnert gibt Juso-Bundesvorsitz auf: „Mit Anfang 30 wird es Zeit zu gehen"" [Kevin Kühnert gives up Juso federal presidency: "At the age of 30 it's time to go"]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2019-05/kevin-kuehnert-spd-jugendorganisation-sozialismus
  7. https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article192761211/Enteignungen-Kevin-Kuehnerts-extreme-Ideen-fuer-die-Wirtschaft.html
  8. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/kevin-kuehnert-will-kollektivierung-von-grossunternehmen-wie-bmw-a-1265315.html
  9. https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kuehnert-juso-chef-fordert-kollektivierung-von-unternehmen-wie-bmw_id_10656143.html
  10. "Life of the Party". 2018-05-17. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  11. Christian Arnold (2018-03-05). "SPD am Scheideweg: Juso-Chef Kevin Kühnert im Interview". Siegessäule (in German). Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  12. "Kevin Kühnert spricht erstmals über seine Homosexualität". welt.de (in German). 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  13. Carolin Wollschied (2018-03-08). "Reaktionen auf Coming-Out: „Damit Erika Steinbach sich ärgern kann"". FAZ.net (in German). Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  14. https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=30767
  15. https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/angesprochen-auf-homosexualitaet-ich-bin-verdammt-noch-mal-in-der-verantwortung-kuehnert-laesst-lanz-bei-frage-auflaufen_id_8574165.html
  16. https://www.bento.de/queer/kevin-kuehnert-im-interview-was-er-zum-christopher-street-day-zu-sagen-hat-a-00000000-0003-0001-0000-000002701399
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