Bärbel Bas resigned as Germany’s labour and social affairs minister and as co-leader of the Social Democrats. She said the death of her stepdaughter meant she needed time to grieve, and said personal attacks, including from the CDU, had intensified during that period. CDU figures had criticised her over the pace of pension reforms.

SPD co-leader and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil condemned the attacks. Alexander Schweitzer, the former minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate, is to take over Bas’s ministerial post.