“We have no trust in Sascha Binder and are calling for his resignation,” said the state chairman of the SPD youth organization, Daniel Krusic. Sascha Binder is partly responsible for this worst election result in the history of social democracysaid Krusic. “He was the campaign manager of the SPD Baden-Württemberg and put together a pale and weak campaign.”

Only ten Social Democrats remain in the Stuttgart state parliament

At the State election the SPD had to accept heavy losses. According to the provisional final result, she received 5.5 percent of the vote, making her the worst election result ever in the southwest. The SPD MPs now form the smallest parliamentary group in the new Stuttgart state parliament, with only ten politicians remaining. After the AfD, the SPD is likely to become the smallest opposition faction.

Binder comes from Geislingen an der Steige and has been a member of the state parliament since 2011. He was most recently parliamentary managing director of the state parliamentary group and was previously responsible for domestic policy. Since 2018 he has been General Secretary of the Southwest SPD. After the disastrous election results were announced, the 43-year-old announced that he would withdraw from internal party positions. Two days after the election, he was elected as the new parliamentary group leader – one of the party’s most important leadership positions in the country. From the Jusos perspective, this is a “false signal”.

Jusos see contradiction: “Lost the compass”

In the statement, the Juso state executive also accused Binder of having publicly criticized the then SPD federal leader Saskia Esken after the 2025 federal election and of attributing her shared responsibility for the election results. “Anyone who asks others to resign after poor results, but allows themselves to be promoted after an even worse result, has lost their compass,” emphasized Krusic.

The state executive announced that the debate goes beyond a single personality. The crucial question is how the party deals with responsibility and political renewal after the election results. If the SPD wants to regain trust, they shouldn’t just go back to everyday political life, said state leader Krusic.

Offer for a temporary solution rejected

According to the Jusos board, they had already sought a conversation with Binder in advance. They suggested that he initially remain group leader, lead the group in a transition phase and resign after a year – and thus act as “transitional group leader”. However, Binder rejected this model.

That is why the Jusos are now publicly calling on Binder to free up the place at the top of the parliamentary group for a “credible new beginning”. In addition to the personnel issue, the Jusos are also demanding structural changes in the leadership of the SPD parliamentary group. “In the future, the SPD parliamentary group leadership must consist of at least 50 percent women,” emphasized Krusic.

Binder was unanimously elected parliamentary group leader on Tuesday. He succeeds Andreas Stoch, who announced his withdrawal as party and parliamentary group leader on the evening of the election.