Political Career
After joining the SPD in 1972, mainly because of the Party's programme as well as the personality of Willy Brandt, Beck became chairman of the SPD of Rhineland Palatinate in 1993 and deputy chairman of the federal party in 2003. He served in this function until May 14, 2006, when Matthias Platzeck had to resign for medical reasons and Beck was officially elected as chairman of the SPD with the approval of 95% of the delegates. According to public opinion polls during his time as party chairman, Beck's possibilities of becoming Bundeskanzler, if he had run for this office in the 2009 election, had been very limited. According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, only 16% of Germans would have elected him in the hypothetical case of a direct vote against Angela Merkel. On September 7, 2008, Beck resigned as Chairman at a party meeting in Werder and Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for Chancellor in the 2009 election, while Franz Müntefering replaced Beck as Chairman after an interim of Steinmeier. Beck said that he was a victim of intrigue inside the SPD.
Beck has been active in local affairs since 1974, when he was first elected a member of the Kreistag. From 1989 to 1994, he was mayor of his hometown Steinfeld. Since 1979, he has been a directly elected member of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate, in which he has served as the speaker for social affairs of the Parliamentary group of the SPD (from 1982 to 1985) and as a member of the governing body of the group from 1985 to 1991, when he was elected chairman.
On October 26, 1994, Kurt Beck was elected Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, succeeding Rudolf Scharping. He was re-elected three times, in 1996, 2001 and 2006. As prime minister he is known for his centrist approach, which is also apparent from the choice of his coalition partner (the liberal FDP instead of the left-wing Green Party, with which the SPD has recently allied itself). In this respect, he follows the policy of Scharping. In March 2006, Beck's SPD gained an absolute majority in the state elections; Beck offered to continue the coalition but since the FDP declined, the SPD formed a government without a partner. After Edmund Stoiber resigned in 2007, Beck is the senior Minister President in Germany.
In 2000 and 2001, Beck was President of the Bundesrat, one of his duties as Minister President.
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