The Bavarian SPD party and parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn is to lead his party as the top candidate in the state elections in autumn 2023. The state board unanimously nominated him, said the Bavarian SPD after a board meeting in Munich. Formally, this only has to be approved by a party conference that is scheduled to take place in October.
Von Brunn’s application comes as no surprise given his two top offices: in April 2021 he took over the SPD state presidency, together with Ronja Endres. In May 2021, von Brunn also grabbed the chair of the parliamentary group in the state parliament – and won a fight vote against the then incumbent Horst Arnold, albeit narrowly, by 12 votes to 10.
Von Brunn is not without controversy within the party and faction because of his bold demeanor. “I want social politics for the people of Bavaria,” he said now. “They urgently need further relief in view of the high energy prices, significantly more affordable housing, as well as good health care in town and country.” He also wants to work to ensure “that the Free State becomes a role model for the energy transition and climate protection – in the interests of our children”. It is important to preserve Bavaria and at the same time to make it modern and fit for the future, to secure good jobs here and to ensure proper payment, emphasized the SPD politician.
However, von Brunn and his party still have a lot of room for improvement in Bavaria: In the latest state election polls, the Social Democrats did not get past their historically poor result of 9.7 percent in the 2018 state election.