Norbert Walter-Borjans

Norbert Walter-Borjans (born 17 September 1952) is a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the SPD (alongside Saskia Esken) since 2019. He served as minister of finance of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017.

Norbert Walter-Borjans
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
6 December 2019
Serving with Saskia Esken
General SecretaryLars Klingbeil
DeputyKlara Geywitz
Hubertus Heil
Kevin Kühnert
Serpil Midyatli
Anke Rehlinger
Preceded byMalu Dreyer (acting)
Minister of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
14 July 2010 – 27 June 2017
Minister PresidentHannelore Kraft
Preceded byHelmut Linssen
Succeeded byLutz Lienenkämper
State Government Spokesperson in North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
1991–1998
Minister PresidentJohannes Rau
Personal details
Born (1952-09-17) 17 September 1952
Krefeld, West Germany
(now Germany)
CitizenshipGerman
Nationality Germany
Political partySPD
EducationUniversity of Bonn
University of Cologne
OccupationEconomist, Politician
Norbert Walter-Borjans, 2018

Early life and education

The son of a carpenter,[1] Walter-Borjans was born 1952 in the West German city of Krefeld and studied economics at the University of Bonn and reached a PhD.[2]

Political career

From 1991 until 1998, Walter-Borjans worked as spokesperson of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, then led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

From 2010 to 2017 Walter-Borjans served as State Minister of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the government of Minister-President Hannelore Kraft. In this capacity, he was one of the state's representatives in the Bundesrat, where he served on the Finance Committee. During his time in office, the state government – as main shareholder –, the German government and Helaba agreed to divide up the asset of ailing WestLB and cover any losses during the winding-down process.[3] On Walter-Borjans’s initiative, the state government on several occasions resorted to buying Swiss account data from whistle-blowers to pursue German tax dodgers.[4]

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Walter-Borjans was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on financial policies and the national budget, led by Wolfgang Schäuble and Olaf Scholz.

Together with Saskia Esken, Walter-Borjans announced his candidacy for the 2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election;[5][6] the duo was soon endorsted by the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia, the party's largest chapter, and its chairman Sebastian Hartmann.[7] as well as the SPD youth organization and its leader Kevin Kühnert, which account for some 80,000 of the 430,000 SPD members.[8] The November 2019 run-off was won by Esken and Walter-Borjans.[9]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • NRW.BANK, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012-2017)[10]
  • Portigon, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012-2017)[11]
  • RAG AG, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012-2017)[12]

Non-profit organizations
  • Deutschlandradio, Member of the Broadcasting Council (2012-2017)[13]
  • Verkehrsclub Deutschland, Founding Member
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References
  1. Madeline Chambers (November 19, 2019), German 'Robin Hood' eyes top SPD job, new deal on Merkel coalition Reuters.
  2. "Steuerhinterziehung: Interview mit NRW-Finanzminister Walter-Borjans - Spiegel Online". spiegel.de. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  3. James Wilson (June 24, 2012), Regulators on alert over WestLB assets disposal Financial Times.
  4. David Jolly (November 23, 2012), German Lawmakers Reject Swiss Tax Deal New York Times.
  5. "SPD: Norbert Walter-Borjans und Saskia Esken wollen Partei-Vorsitzende werden - Spiegel Online". spiegel.de. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  6. Madeline Chambers (September 4, 2019), German Social Democrats start "speed-dating" for aspiring leaders Reuters.
  7. Rennen um SPD-Vorsitz - NRW-Vorstand nominiert Walter-Borjans ZDF, August 30, 2019.
  8. "The self-destruction of the German Social-Democrats".
  9. Braun, Stefan (30 November 2019). "SPD-Basis entscheidet sich für das ganz große Experiment". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  10. Wilfried Goebels (November 12, 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
  11. Matthias Inverardi (November 3, 2016), WestLB successor Portigon searched by prosecutors in tax probe Reuters.
  12. Wilfried Goebels (November 12, 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
  13. Wilfried Goebels (November 12, 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
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