Wegner senate

The Wegner senate is the current state government of Berlin, sworn in on 27 April 2023 after Kai Wegner was elected as Governing Mayor of Berlin by the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. It is the 29th Senate of Berlin.

It was formed after the 2023 Berlin repeat state election by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD). Excluding the Governing Mayor, the senate comprises ten ministers, called Senators. Five are members of the SPD, four are members of the CDU, and one is an independent politician (nominated by the CDU).

Formation
The previous Senate was a coalition government of the SPD, Left, and Greens led by Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey of the SPD.

The election took place on 12 February 2023, and resulted in a clear victory for the opposition CDU, moved from third to first place with 28% of the vote on a swing of ten percentage points. The SPD declined to 18.5% and finished just 53 votes ahead of the Greens. The Left recorded a small decline and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) a small improvement.

Overall, the outgoing coalition retained a reduced majority. After talks with several parties, on 1 March the SPD vote 25 to 12 to seek negotiations with the CDU for a grand coalition. Negotiations began on 13 March and concluded on 3 April, with the two parties presenting a 135-page agreement. It was subsequently submitted for approval by the SPD membership. The results of the vote were announced on 23 April, with 54.3% voting in favour on a turnout of 64%.

The Abgeordnetenhaus elected Wegner as Governing Mayor on 27 April. He failed to win the first two ballots and was elected on the third, winning won 86 votes out of 159 cast, with 70 against, and three abstentions.

Policy
In May 2023, the Wegner government created the role of Queer Berlin Liaison Officer.