Melanie Leonhard

Melanie Leonhard (born 14 July 1977) is a German historian and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as State Minister for Economic Affairs in the Government of Hamburg since 2022.

[1] She previously was the State Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Family and Integration under mayors Olaf Scholz and Peter Tschentscher from 2015 to 2022.

[4] On 1 October 2015 Leonhard followed Detlef Scheele as a state minister (senator) and head of the Hamburg Authority of Labor, Social Affairs, Family and Integration.

In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Leonhard was part of the working group on families, women, seniors and youth, led by Annette Widmann-Mauz, Angelika Niebler and Katarina Barley.

On 24 March 2018, Leonhard was elected with 94.6 percent of the delegate votes as the successor of Olaf Scholz, the Federal Finance Minister in the cabinet Merkel IV, as state chairwoman of the SPD Hamburg.