New Times,
New Thinking.

German Election 2021: The road to a coalition

The New Statesman joins forces with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to discuss an SPD-led Germany

In a special episode of the Germany Elects podcast made in partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Jeremy Cliffe talks with an array of experts on progressive politics in Germany to discuss the prospect of a “traffic-light” coalition of the centre-left SPD, the Greens and the centre-right FDP.

He is first joined by Martin Schulz, the FES president and SPD chancellor candidate at the 2017 election, to discuss the significance of the election on 26 September in German and European politics.

Then he is joined by SPD MP Jens Zimmermann and commentator Ulrike Herrmann to discuss the SPD in the Bundestag and how a “traffic light” government might govern domestically.

Finally he is joined by MEP and former federal justice, labour and families minister Katarina Barley as well as the editor of the IPG journal Anja Wehler-Schöck to discuss what the election means for Europe and the wider world.

Further reading

Find out more about the work of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in the UK in the EU and in the US .

You can read this recent policy brief by the FES office in Brussels on how to build on the success of the global minimum corporate tax rate.

Also recommended are the IPG, the FES journal in German, and the the IPS, its English-language counterpart.

Give a gift subscription to the New Statesman this Christmas from just £49

You can listen back to all episodes of Germany Elects and read all the New Statesman’s coverage of the German election.

How to listen to Germany Elects

1. In your browser

You can use the player above to listen in your browser right now. If you’d like to hear more from the series, all the episodes will be published to the Germany Elects page on NewStatesman.com. Previous episodes are available to listen to on-demand.

2. In a podcast app

Germany Elects is published directly into the main feed for the World Review podcast, available on all major podcast apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, Google Podcasts, and more. Search “Germany Elects” in your favourite podcast app to see the episodes.

Subscribe to or follow the World Review podcast to make sure you receive new episodes as soon as they are published. While you’re there, please leave a review for the podcast – it helps others find the show, which in turn makes it possible for us to keep making it.

Content from our partners
How the UK can lead the transition to net zero
We can eliminate cervical cancer
Leveraging Search AI to build a resilient future is mission-critical for the public sector