Steinbruck declares political withdrawal

He is no longer seeking office in the party or in the parliamentary group, he told 200 delegates at a non-official SPD party convention in berlin on friday evening, according to dpa information. "My career will come to an orderly end," the 66-year-old was quoted as saying.

In a moving speech, steinbruck took political responsibility for the election results, it was said. Last sunday, the SPD received 25.7 percent of the votes. Steinbruck fell short of his election goal of a red-green majority. After the election, however, he announced that he would join the SPD in possible coalition negotiations with the union and accept his seat in the bundestag.

Steinbruck was minister president of north rhine-westphalia from 2002 to 2005 and federal finance minister and deputy head of the SPD from 2005 to 2009. He has not held a party office since 2009. In december 2012, the hamburger by birth was crowned candidate for chancellorship. During the election campaign, he had already announced that he would not be available for a ministerial post in a grand coalition.

As a one-time supporter of chancellor gerhard schroder’s 2010 reform agenda, steinbruck did not have an easy time in the party at times. In the election campaign, however, despite his demand for "freedom of leg", he was willing to commit himself to a rather left-wing election program. After some initial mishaps, steinbruck gained momentum in the final spurt before the bundestag vote and impressed even his own supporters with his tireless efforts.