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The SPD is in one of the worst crises in its history. After two electoral defeats, SPD leader Klingbeil has announced that he wants to take more care of working people again. Master hairdresser Hüliya Hudson from Dormagen is part of this working group.
Hüliya Hudson (50) has been a self-employed master hairdresser in Dormagen, Rhineland, for 20 years. In the FOCUS online series “That’s really how it is in Germany” Before the federal election in February 2025, she described the challenges she has to shoulder every day as an entrepreneur with seven employees and what she expects from politics. Now we asked her how she looks at the crisis-ridden SPD, which is currently trying to fight for people like her.
FOCUS online: Have you ever voted for the SPD?
Hüliya Hudson: Yes, I once voted for her.
Hudson: When Olaf Scholz was a candidate for chancellor (2021, editor).
Why did you vote for the SPD?
Hudson: I probably didn’t know who to vote for. Back then, I didn’t want Christian Lindner and the FDP to become stronger.
What would the SPD have to do to get you to vote for them again?
Hudson: First, I would expect her to cut taxes for small businesses. I’m in favor of paying taxes. But what do I have to earn as a small, self-employed hairdresser to pay these taxes? VAT, trade tax, it’s all far too high and not at all justified for a city like Dormagen.
Secondly: I would be very happy if the party would work to ensure that we in North Rhine-Westphalia do not have to pay back the Corona aid. At that time it was said that the support was not a loan. Now the government in North Rhine-Westphalia is demanding the money back from small businesses such as cosmetic studios or hairdressers, that’s an outrage, I feel ripped off. In Baden-Württemberg, people do not have to pay the money back.
Do you think the SPD cares about hard-working people?
Hudson: I can’t say much about that. I have to fight a lot to be able to afford this life. As a self-employed hairdresser, I feel left alone, not just by the SPD, but by the government as a whole, and have been for many years. I’ve had my own barber shop for 20 years, it’s actually gotten worse. When I started, I hoped that one day I would be able to earn enough to live in peace. That is not the case. I’ve always been very disciplined with my money and was always able to save something at the end of the month. That was then spent on the additional tax payment, the taxes eat us all up.
What are you missing from the SPD?
Hudson: I feel left alone, no one has my back. But as I said, this is not just an SPD problem.
What do other parties do better than the SPD?
Hudson: I don’t know that. I can’t say anything about that.
