Alice Elisabeth Weidel (born 6 February 1979) is a German politician who has been serving as co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party alongside Tino Chrupalla since June 2022.

Weidel became a member of the Bundestag (MdB) in the 2017 federal election, where she was the AfD's lead candidate alongside Alexander Gauland.

[7] After receiving her undergraduate degree, Weidel went to work for Goldman Sachs Asset Management from July 2005 to June 2006 as an analyst in Frankfurt.

[5][10] Subsequently, she wrote a doctoral thesis with the health economist Peter Oberender at the Faculty of Law and Economics in Bayreuth on the future of the Chinese pension system.

[25] Weidel vigorously defends economic liberalism and declares former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to be her role model.

During the euro area crisis, she has called for economically weak states, such as Greece[18] Spain and Portugal, to leave or be expelled from the Eurozone.

[28][27][29] Weidel supports continued German membership in the European Union;[18] however, in an interview with the London Financial Times published in January, 2023, Weidel outlined her party's approach in the event of a government takeover: If an attempt by the AfD to resolve the EU's "democratic deficit" were unsuccessful, Germany's exit from the EU would be put to a vote following the example of Great Britain.

[34][35] During the AfD party conference in June 2024, she said that it was in the interests of Germany and Europe that "Ukraine does not belong to the European Union".

[36] In December 2016, Weidel said that German chancellor Angela Merkel was "of course" partly responsible for the rape and murder of Maria Ladenburger.

[38] Weidel opposes health insurance for asylum seekers, criticises what she sees as a "naive approach" to radical Islamic preachers in Germany and has warned against excessive expectations regarding the integration of refugees into the labour market.

[27] In the context of the German refugee debate, she speaks of an incalculable burden on the economy and the welfare state, and that voters of established parties (CDU/CSU and SPD) have, in her opinion, "lost their minds".

[44] Although advocating for economic relations with Russia, Weidel is not considered to be part of the AfD pro-Russia movement; Weidel responded to the question why she – unlike her co-chair Tino Chrupalla – did not attend the Russian embassy's reception to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany: "Celebrating the defeat of one's own country with a former occupying power is something I have personally decided - also with my father's escape story - not to take part in.

"[45][46] In an interview with The American Conservative she said regarding the demand of US president Donald Trump that Germany had to increase its military spending, while allegedly having to stay under the political influence of the US, that the US could not have it both ways.

Weidel said that, if Germany has taken responsibility for its own security in the future, this comes with the price of independence from the US, especially regarding energy policy, Nord Stream in particular.

At the end of May 2020 she called the federal government's Corona policy "pre-democratic" and accused it of "a blanket restriction of basic rights and then distributing them again piecemeal as if by an act of mercy".

"[55] Weidel has stated her opposition to discussion of sexuality prior to puberty saying that "I don't want anyone with their gender idiocy or their early sexualisation classes coming near my children.

[59] Weidel cited the Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark, who believes that the influence of carbon dioxide (CO2) on the climate is overestimated.

In addition, researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) had said "that there is a much more reliable connection to solar activity" with regard to high CO2 levels.

[60] With regard to the Fridays for Future rallies, Weidel spoke of "this campaigning ability that is rolling towards us," and said: "The power of this cumulative stupidity is frightening.

"[62] Weidel sued the channel seeking to forbid re-airing of the program, and on 17 May the Hamburg District Court ruled against her, stating that a public figure must tolerate exaggerated criticism.

[62] A September 2017 report by Die Zeit claimed that Weidel had illegally hired a Syrian refugee to do housework at her home in Switzerland.

[65][66][67] In June 2023, Weidel commented on the election polls results in former East Germany without Berlin, stating that AfD has great support in this region.

[34] Weidel is in a lesbian relationship with Sarah Bossard, a film producer who lives in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, and is originally from Sri Lanka.

Weidel's father was born 1939 in Upper Silesia and fled with his mother and sister to Verl (in East Westphalia) in February 1945.