Sönke Rix (born 3 December 1975) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who has been serving as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

from the state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

from 2005 to 2025.

Political career

Rix first became a member of the Bundestag in the

2005 German federal election The 2005 German federal election was held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. The snap election was called after the government's defeat in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election, which caused them to i ...

. He has since been a member of the Committee on Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. From 2014 to 2019, he served as his parliamentary group’s spokesperson on family, senior citizens, women and youth. Within the SPD parliamentary group, Rix belonged to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. In the negotiations to form a fourth

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

under the leadership of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

following the 2017 federal elections, Rix was part of the working group on families, women, seniors and youth, led by

Annette Widmann-Mauz Annette Widmann-Mauz ( Widmann; born 13 June 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democrats who served as a member of the German (the German federal parliament) from 1998 to 2025, representing the electoral district of Tübingen. In ad ...

Angelika Niebler Angelika Niebler (née Rupertseder; born 18 February 1963) is a German lawyer and politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999. She is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, part of the Euro ...

and Katarina Barley. From 2019, Rix served as deputy chairman of the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein. Ahead of the 2021 elections, he was elected to lead the SPD's campaign in Schleswig-Holstein. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

of the SPD, the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2021 German elections, Rix was again part of his party's delegation in the working group on children, youth and families, this time co-chaired by

Serpil Midyatli Serpil Midyatli (born 8 August 1975) is a German politician who has been serving as deputy leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and chairwoman of the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein since 2019. She has been the Leader of the Opposi ...

Katrin Göring-Eckardt Katrin Dagmar Göring-Eckardt ( Eckardt; 3 May 1966) is a German politician of the German Green Party (officially known as Alliance 90/The Greens). Starting her political activity in the now-former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in th ...

and

Stephan Thomae Stephan Thomae (born 19 June 1968) is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2025. Early life and career Aft ...

. Since December 2021, he has been serving as one his parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of chairman

Rolf Mützenich Rolf Heinrich Mützenich (born 25 June 1959) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who served as leader of the SPD group in the Bundestag from June 2019 until February 2025 Early life and education Mützenich was ...

. In March 2024, Rix announced that he would not stand in the 2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.Gernot Kühl (4 March 2024)
Nach 20 Jahren: SPD-Bundestagsabgeordneter Sönke Rix aus Eckernförde hört auf
''

Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag ("Schleswig-Holstein Newspaper publisher"), sh:z, is a newspaper group based in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein. With 22 daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication conta ...

''.

Other activities

* German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member *

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, Member

References

External links

*
Bundestag biography
1975 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Schleswig-Holstein Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 {{Germany-SPD-politician-stub