Second Bovenschulte senate

The second Bovenschulte senate is the current state government of Bremen, sworn in on 5 July 2023 after Andreas Bovenschulte was elected as Mayor by the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen. It is the 26th Senate of Bremen.

It was formed after the 2023 Bremen state election by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE), and The Left (LINKE). Excluding the Mayor, the senate comprises eight ministers, called Senators. Four are members of the SPD, two are members of the Greens, and two are members of The Left.

Formation
The previous Senate was a coalition government of the SPD, Greens, and Left led by Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte of the SPD.

The election took place on 14 May 2023, and resulted in a swing to the SPD and a losses for the Greens. The Left remained steady. The opposition CDU lost its position as the largest party to the SPD. The FDP narrowly retained its seats with 5%, while BiW recorded their best result to date with 9%.

After the election, Mayor Bovenschulte held exploratory talks with the Greens followed by The Left. All three parties spoke positively of the discussions. The SPD and CDU met for talks on the 21st. On the 25th, the SPD state board unanimously voted to seek negotiations to renew the outgoing government.

Coalition negotiations commenced on 30 May and finalised on 25 June, with the three parties presenting their agreement the following day. Compared to the previous government, the SPD gained one senator at the expense of the Greens. The contract was overwhelmingly approved by all three parties at meetings at the start of July.

Bovenschulte was re-elected Mayor by the Bürgerschaft on 5 July, winning 49 votes out of 86 cast.