Minister-President of Lower Saxony

The German title Ministerpräsident may be translated literally as Minister-President, although the state government sometimes uses the title Prime Minister in English.^[2][3] Further, some third parties refer to the position in this fashion.^[4][5]

An alternate English translation is Premier, the title given to heads of state governments in other federal systems such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.^[6][7]

After the Second World War, the states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and the State of Hanover were administered as part of the zone allocated to the British military administration. With the passage of time, the British government began to back the advocates of a merger of the states. Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, who went on to become Lower Saxony's first Minister President, was a fervent advocate of the merger towards the British military authorities. On 23 October 1946, the British administration announced that they would support a merger of the states, as proposed by Kopf.^[8]

Consequently, the four states were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony via Ordinance No. 55 of 1 November 1946. Article 3 of the Ordinance created the position of Minister President:

"Subject to the provisions of any legislation which may be enacted pursuant to this Ordinance, the executive authority of Lower Saxony shall be exercised by a Cabinet, the Head of which shall be known as 'Ministerpräsident'"

Article 4 of Ordinance No. 55 stipulated the appointment of the Minister President by the military government, until the holding of free Legislative Assembly elections in 1947. The British military administration then appointed Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, the erstwhile Minister President of the former State of Hanover, to serve as the first Minister President of Lower Saxony.

 

The Minister President is elected by the Legislative Assembly, by a majority of its members in a secret ballot.^[9] However, he does not have to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly.^[10] The only restriction is that the Minister President may not be a Member of the Bundestag. Before assuming his duties, the Minister President-elect takes the following oath before the Members of the Legislative Assembly:

"I swear that I will devote my strength to the people and the state, preserve and defend the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and the constitution of Lower Saxony as well as the laws, perform my duties conscientiously and exercise justice towards all people." (The oath may be taken with or without the affirmation "So help me God")

Upon election, the Minister President then appoints his Cabinet which requires subsequent confirmation by the Legislative Assembly.^[11] In practical terms, the confirmation of the cabinet is an essential requirement for the Minister President to govern, as until then the cabinet departments would be run by the (possibly defeated) predecessors.^[12] The Minister President can be removed by the Legislative Assembly, through a constructive vote of no confidence – namely the election of a successor.^[13] To this day, no vote of no-confidence has succeeded in the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly, with the last attempt being made in November 1988.^[14]

 

According to the Lower Saxony Constitution, the Minister President is the effective leader of the State Government, being responsible for the determination and formulation of policy guidelines.^[15] In this context, he chairs the cabinet meetings and may cast a tie-breaking vote in case of a stalemate between the ministers. Additionally, the Minister President also represents the State of Lower Saxony externally and exercises the right of clemency in individual criminal cases.^[16] In titular terms, the Minister President is also regarded as head of the state of Lower Saxony, thereby taking precedence over officials like the Speaker of the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly.^[17]

The Minister President, like the other members of the State Government, is not a civil servant—his salary is regulated by law. Like his ministers, the Minister President is subject to the Lower Saxony Ministers Act, which regulates matters of salary, confidentiality and ethics.^[18] Furthermore, the Minister President signs treaties made by the State of Lower Saxony and has to be consulted by other cabinet members prior to the start of any negotiations.^[19] The Minister President is also authorized to appoint one of his cabinet members as his deputy in case of absence or illness. The only currently known instance of a Deputy Minister President taking over the duties of Minister President was in July 2010, when Jörg Bode (FDP) served as Acting Minister President in the interval between Christian Wulff's election as President of Germany and David McAllister's confirmation as Minister President on 1 July 2010.^[20] Meetings of the Cabinet traditionally take place in the guesthouse of the Lower Saxony Government, located close to the Hanover Zoological Gardens.^[21]

 

The Minister President of Lower Saxony, like his fellow Minister President in their respective states, has the staff of the State Chancellery at his disposal. The State Chancellery assists the Minister President in the preparation of draft legislation, the management of day-to-day government business and the coordination of media policy for the entire state.^[22] Additionally, it is responsible for relations to the other states in Germany and the European Union.

The State Chancellery, by convention, is headed by a state secretary appointed by the Minister President. The current incumbent is Jörg Mielke. Under the McAllister administration, the State Chancellery was divided into four overall departments (Department 1: Policy Guidelines, Department 2: Legal/Administration/Media, Department 3: Europe/International Cooperation, Department 4: Lower Saxony Representation to the Federal Government). While each of these departments is headed by a separate section head, the Press and Information Office is under the direct purview of the Minister President.^[23]

 

As the leader of one of Germany's territorially largest and most populous states, the Minister President of Lower Saxony has traditionally been a major player in federal politics: The state's first Minister President, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf often used the Bundesrat as a forum to oppose the policies of the Adenauer government. Alfred Kubel, one of Kopf's successors, played a major role in negotiating a compromise between all German states on the creation of a national fiscal transfer mechanism (Länderfinanzausgleich). Minister President Ernst Albrecht, contrary to prevailing majority opinion in his own party, advocated and voted for the ratification of the treaties around which Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was centred.^[24]

Ernst Albrecht was a candidate for the CDU nomination for President in 1979 and Chancellor in 1980, Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, his successor Sigmar Gabriel served as the Vice-Chancellor of Germany between 2013 and 2018 and Christian Wulff was elected President of Germany in 2010. Examples of Lower Saxony's influence on policy debates in federal politics include Ernst Albrecht's advocacy of financial transfers from other states and Gerhard Schröder's usage of Lower Saxony's Bundesrat votes in matters of fiscal and tax policy.^[25]

Minister-residents of Lower Saxony

Political party:   SPD   DP   CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			Political party	Election
			Took office	Left office	Days
State of Lower Saxony (1946–present)
British occupation zone of Germany (1946–1949)
State of the Federal Republic of Germany (as of 23 May 1949)
1		Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961)	9 December 1946	26 May 1955	3090	Social Democratic Party	1947 1951
2		Heinrich Hellwege (1908–1991)	26 May 1955	12 May 1959	1447	German Party	1955
3 (1)		Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961)	12 May 1959	21 December 1961 (died in office)	954	Social Democratic Party	1959
4		Georg Diederichs (1900–1983)	29 December 1961	8 July 1970	3113	Social Democratic Party	1963 1967
5		Alfred Kubel (1909–1999)	8 July 1970	6 February 1976 (resigned)	2039	Social Democratic Party	1970 1974
6		Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014)	6 February 1976	21 June 1990	5249	Christian Democratic Union	1974 1978 1982 1986
7		Gerhard Schröder (born 1944)	21 June 1990	27 October 1998 (resigned to become Chancellor)	3050	Social Democratic Party	1990 1994 1998
8		Gerhard Glogowski (born 1943)	28 October 1998	15 October 1999 (resigned)	352	Social Democratic Party	1998
9		Sigmar Gabriel (born 1959)	15 October 1999	4 March 2003	1236	Social Democratic Party	1998
10		Christian Wulff (born 1959)	4 March 2003	30 June 2010 (resigned to become President)	2675	Christian Democratic Union	2003 2008
11		David McAllister (born 1971)	1 July 2010	19 February 2013	964	Christian Democratic Union	2008
12		Stephan Weil (born 1958)	19 February 2013	Incumbent	4304	Social Democratic Party	2013 2017 2022

• State Chancellery