New mayor for Kiel: These candidates are ready!

New mayor for Kiel: These candidates are ready!

The tension is rising in Kiel because the new mayor will be elected on November 16, 2025. The incumbent mayor Ulf Kampf (SPD) has announced that he will not run for re-election but would like to switch to state politics. This opens the door for a new generation of candidates who will vie for the trust of Kiel's citizens. [ndr.de].

In the coming months, Kiel's political landscape will change enormously, because the list of applicants is diverse and characterized by different experiences. The most promising candidates are headed by Samet Yilmaz from the Greens, Ulf Daude from the SPD and Gerrit Derkowski, who is supported by the CDU and FDP. Samet Yilmaz, who works both as parliamentary group leader in Kiel City Hall and as head of department in the Ministry of the Interior, is his party's preferred candidate. [kn-online.de].

The candidate team

• Marcel Schmidt (SSW): 61 Jahre, pensionierter Polizeihauptkommissar und seit 11 Jahren Vorsitzender der Kieler SSW-Ratsfraktion.
• Ulf Daude (SPD): 52 Jahre, erfahrener Schulleiter und ehemaliger Referatsleiter in der Staatskanzlei.
• Gerrit Derkowski (parteilos): 55 Jahre, ehemaliger NDR-Moderator, derzeit unterstützt von CDU und FDP.
• Björn Thoroe (Linke): 40 Jahre, regelmäßiger Abgeordneter seit zwei Jahren in der Kieler Ratsversammlung.
• Hubert Pinto de Kraus (AfD): 59 Jahre, war Marine-Ausbilder und wurde einstimmig gewählt.
• Samet Yilmaz (Grüne): Fraktionsvorsitzender der Grünen und Referatsleiter im Innenministerium.
• Florian Wrobel (Die Partei): Kandidat seit Ende November 2024, auch er wurde einstimmig gewählt.
• Viola Ketelsen (Volt): Freiberufliche Prozessbegleiterin und Projektmanagerin auf der Liste.

A particularly interesting detail is that in the last three elections only one female candidate has shone in Kiel's political arena - Susanne Gaschke. This is a remarkable aspect, especially since all of the prospective applicants this time are men. The candidates bring a mix of old and new experiences that could bring a breath of fresh air to city politics.

Political decisions

A central issue that will be on the agenda after the election is the vote on the city of Kiel's Olympic bid. This could be a crucial step in the city's development, and the question is who will sit in the mayor's chair to drive this important project forward.

The members of the SPD will also decide in the fall whether the state chairwoman or the mayor of Kiel will lead the list for the upcoming state election. Ulf Kampf, who will remain in office until the office is handed over to a successor, has not made any clear statements regarding his future plans after his term in office. The coming months will clarify how the political landscape in Kiel will develop.