Alice Weidel

Alice Weidel
Elekes Andor · CC BY 4.0 · source
Name	Alice Weidel
Caption	Weidel in 2021
Office	Leader of the Alternative for Germany in the Bundestag
Term start	26 September 2017
Alongside	Tino Chrupalla
Predecessor	Position established
Office1	Member of the Bundestag
Term start1	24 October 2017
Constituency1	Baden-Württemberg
Party	Alternative for Germany (AfD)
Birth name	Alice Elisabeth Weidel
Birth date	6 February 1979
Birth place	Gütersloh, West Germany
Alma mater	University of Bayreuth
Occupation	Politician, economist
Spouse	Sarah Bossard, 2015, 2022

Alice Weidel is a German politician and economist who serves as a member of the Bundestag and, alongside Tino Chrupalla, as the parliamentary co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). First elected to the federal parliament in the 2017 German federal election, she has been a prominent figure in the party's shift towards right-wing populism. Weidel is known for her sharp criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel's migration policies, her Eurosceptic views, and her background in finance, having worked for Goldman Sachs and Allianz prior to her political career.

Early life and education

Alice Elisabeth Weidel was born in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, and grew up in the nearby town of Halle. Her father was a dentist and her mother a pharmacist. She completed her Abitur at the Westfalen-Kolleg in Bielefeld before studying economics and business administration at the University of Bayreuth. At Bayreuth, she was a scholarship holder of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, associated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She graduated with a Diplom degree in 2004 and later earned a PhD in economics from the same university in 2011, with a dissertation on China's pension system.

Political career

Weidel joined the Alternative for Germany in 2013, shortly after its founding, initially attracted by its focus on Euro-critical economic policies. She rose quickly within the party structure, becoming a member of the AfD's federal executive board in 2015. In the 2017 German federal election, she was the AfD's lead candidate for the chancellorship, alongside Alexander Gauland, leading the party to enter the Bundestag for the first time with 12.6% of the vote. Following the election, she was elected as the parliamentary co-leader of the AfD's Bundestag group, a position she has held since, first with Gauland and later with Tino Chrupalla. She has been re-elected as a directly elected member of parliament from the Baden-Württemberg constituency in both the 2017 and 2021 federal elections.

Political positions

Weidel's political platform is characterized by strong Eurosceptic and national conservative stances. She is a vocal critic of the European Union's current structure, advocating for a return to a looser confederation of sovereign states and opposing further European integration. On immigration, she has called for strict limits, the closure of migration routes, and the acceleration of deportations, often criticizing the 2015 open-door policy. Economically, she promotes supply-side economics, tax cuts, and the abolition of the EEG surcharge, while opposing climate change mitigation policies like the European Green Deal. In foreign policy, she advocates for a rapprochement with Russia and has criticized NATO expansion, while expressing skepticism towards China's geopolitical ambitions.

Controversies

Weidel has been involved in numerous controversies, often related to her rhetoric and associations. In 2017, it was revealed that her former Syrian employee had been living in Germany under a toleration permit, contradicting her strict stance on immigration. She has faced significant criticism for speeches and statements perceived as inflammatory, including a 2017 address in which she accused the German government of cultivating "headscarf girls, knife-wielding men, and other good-for-nothings." The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has placed parts of the AfD, including its youth wing Junge Alternative, under surveillance for right-wing extremism, though Weidel herself is not personally classified as such. Her 2022 divorce from Swiss filmmaker Sarah Bossard also attracted media attention regarding her personal life.

Personal life

Alice Weidel is openly lesbian and was in a registered civil partnership with Swiss filmmaker Sarah Bossard from 2015. The couple, who have two adopted sons, divorced in 2022. She maintains a primary residence in Berlin and a second home in Ermatingen, Switzerland, on Lake Constance, a fact that has been used by political opponents to question her commitment to Germany. Before her full-time political career, she worked in investment banking for Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt and later as a senior manager for Allianz in Beijing, leveraging her expertise in Chinese economics.

Category:Alternative for Germany politicians Category:Members of the Bundestag Category:1979 births Category:Living people