It was formed after the 2021 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (LINKE).

The election took place on 26 September 2021, and resulted in a significant swing to the SPD, while the CDU and the opposition AfD and The Left suffered losses.

[1] On 13 October, Schwesig announced that the SPD had voted unanimously to seek coalition negotiations with The Left.

[3] The parties finalised their coalition agreement on 5 November[4] and presented it three days later.

[6] Schwesig was elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 15 November, winning 41 votes out of 79 cast.