Thomas Kutschaty (born 12 June 1968) 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 served as the leader of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia from 2021 to 2023. Kutschaty has been a member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2005 and the parliamentary leader of the SPD since 2018. Prior to this, Kutschaty served as the State Minister for Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 till 2017.

Early life, education and family

Kutschaty was born in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in June 1968. His family was railway workers' family, with Kutschaty being the first to complete his Abitur. Kutschaty studied law at the

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began ...

, passing his first state exam in 1995 and his second in 1997. Kutschaty was active as a lawyer between 1997 and 2010. Kutschaty is married and has three children.

Political career

Career in local politics

Kutschaty has been a member of the SPD since 1986. Between 1987 and 1989, he served as the Spokesperson of the Young Socialists in Essen-Borbeck, and between 1998 and 1990, he was member of the executive of the Young Socialists in Essen. Additionally Kutschaty has been a member of the executive of the SPD Essen-Borbeck, and served as its leader since 1994. In 1999, he was elected to the Essen city council, where he served in the committee on urban development and city planning until 2004.

Career in state politics

Kutschaty was elected to the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westfalia in the 2005 elections. In parliament, he was a member of the internal affairs committee as well as the justice committee and the parliamentary oversight committee. He also served as the deputy chair of the committee investigating the prison JVA Siegburg. After Hannelore Kraft (SPD) formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

following the 2010 state election, she appointed Kutschaty as justice minister, an office which was reappointed to after the 2012 state election. He left government after the Hannelore Kraft and the SPD lost the 2017 state election against

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 t ...

and the Christian Democrats. Kutschaty was succeeded as justice minister by Peter Biesenbach (CDU). Kutschaty was nominated by his party as delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Kutschaty was the lead candidate for the Social Democrats in the 2022 North Rhine-Westfalia state election but lost out against incumbent Minister-President

Hendrik Wüst Hendrik Josef Wüst (born 19 July 1975) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2021. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Ger ...

. Since January 2023, Kutschaty has been serving on an internal SPD commission on tax reform, co-chaired by

Saskia Esken Saskia Christina Esken (' Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being 2019 Social Democratic Party of Ger ...

and

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (; born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) serving as the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. He has served as the SPD's Co-Leader since 2021, to ...

Other activities

Corporate boards

* NRW.BANK, Member of the Supervisory Board * Sparkasse Essen, Member of the Supervisory Board (2017–2021)

Non-profit organizations

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission (, ) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth and ed ...

, MemberThomas Kutschaty
State Parliament of North Rhine-Westpahlia.

References

External links

* *

at wahl.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Kutschaty, Thomas 1968 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians 20th-century German politicians 21st-century German politicians Politicians from Essen Ruhr University Bochum alumni Government ministers of Germany Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia