Editing Stephan Weil

Stephan Weil born 15 December 1958 is a German politician and the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony. On 20 January 2013, the SPD and the Green party won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat. On 19 February 2013, he was elected Prime Minister of Lower Saxony with the votes of SPD andAlliance '90/The Greens. He has been President of the German Bundesrat since November 2013.

== Political Career == 

In 1994, Weil became a member of the ministerial council of Lower Saxony. Weil was also the chairman of the SPD Jusos in Hanover. From 1997 until late October 2006 he held the office of the city treasurer. In May 2006 he was chosen as the SPD candidate for the Hanover mayoral election on 10 September 2006 against the CDU politician Dirk Topeffer and Ingrid Wagemann of Alliance '90/The Greens. He won an absolute majority in the first round. He succeeded Herbert Schmalstieg, the mayor of Hanover for 34 years on 1 November 2006. Weil held the office for 7 years, up to 2013 state election. Due to legal restrictions, Weil was automatically removed from the office of mayor when he became Prime Minister of Lower Saxony on 19 February 2013.

On 20 January 2012 he was voted as the chairman of SPD Lower Saxony. In March, Weil was unanimously chosen as the SPD direct candidate for the Hanover-Buchholz constituency. On the state convention in Hameln, Weil placed first with 98.95%. He won the election by a wafer-thin majority. He was elected vice president of the Bundesrat on 1 March 2013, and became President of the Bundesrat on 1 November 2013.

== Education == 

Weil has lived in Hanover since 1965, where he completed the Abitur at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gymnasium. After his community service on 1978 he began a Law degree in Göttingen, which he finished with his first state examination on 1983. He then worked as a lawyer in Hanover, and later a public prosecutor and judge in the Lower Saxony ministry of justice. 

Stephan Weil is married with Rosemarie Kerkow-Weil, the president of the University of Hanover and together they have one son. He is a member of Rotary International. His hobbies are football, running, hiking and reading. He is also a fan of the German soccer club Hanover 96. Today he lives in Hanover-Kircherode and is a member of the SPD local club, Kircherode-Bemerode-Wülferode.

== External Links == 

http://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/personen/DE/laender/ni/weil-stephan.html
	
http://www.stephanweil.de/