First Müller senate

The first Müller senate was the state government of Berlin between 2014 and 2016, sworn in on 11 December 2014 after Michael Müller was elected as Governing Mayor by the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. It was the 26th Senate of Berlin.

First Senate of Michael Müller Senate Müller I
26th Senate of Berlin
2014–2016
Michael Müller at the Schloss Charlottenburg a week after his election as Governing Mayor
Date formed	11 December 2014
Date dissolved	7 December 2016
People and organisations
Governing Mayor	Michael Müller
Deputy Mayor	Frank Henkel Dilek Kolat
No. of ministers	8
Member parties	Social Democratic Party Christian Democratic Union
Status in legislature	Grand coalition
Opposition parties	Alliance 90/The Greens The Left Pirate Party
History
Election	None
Legislature term	17th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Predecessor	Fourth Wowereit senate
Successor	Second Müller senate

It was formed after the resignation of Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit, and was a continuation of the grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) formed after the 2011 Berlin state election. Excluding the Governing Mayor, the senate comprised eight members, called Senators. Four were members of the SPD and four were members of the CDU.

The first Müller senate was succeeded by the second Müller senate on 8 December 2016.

Formation

The previous Senate was a grand coalition government of the SPD and CDU led by Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. Wowereit announced his resignation in August 2014, citing continued delays in the opening of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which he described as his "biggest failure".^[1]

The SPD held a membership ballot to determine his successor; if no candidate received a majority in the initial ballot, a runoff would be held between the top two. Candidates standing for election were Senator for Urban Development Michael Müller, SPD parliamentary leader Raed Saleh, and former state SPD chairman Jan Stöß.^[2] The postal vote was held from 19 September to 18 October, with Müller receiving 59.1% of votes, followed by Stöß with 20.8% and Saleh with 18.6%. Approximately 11,000 of the party's 17,200 members voted, corresponding to 64% turnout.^[3]

Müller was elected as Governing Mayor by the Abgeordnetenhaus on 11 December, winning 87 votes out of 145 cast.^[4]

Composition

The composition of the Senate at the time of its dissolution was as follows:

Portfolio	Senator		Party		Took office	Left office	State secretaries
Governing Mayor of Berlin Senate Chancellery		Michael Müller born (1964-12-09)9 December 1964		SPD	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Björn Böhning Hella Dunger-Löper Tim Renner
Deputy Mayor Senator for Interior and Sport		Frank Henkel born (1963-11-16)16 November 1963		CDU	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Bernd Krömer Andreas Statzkowski
Deputy Mayor Senator for Labour, Integration and Women		Dilek Kolat born (1967-02-07)7 February 1967		SPD	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Barbara Loth Boris Velter
Senator for Urban Development and Environment		Andreas Geisel born (1966-03-01)1 March 1966		SPD	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Christian Gaebler Regula Lüscher Engelbert Lütke Daldrup
Senator for Education, Youth and Science		Sandra Scheeres born (1970-02-15)15 February 1970		SPD	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Mark Rackles Sigrid Klebba Steffen Krach
Senator for Finance		Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen born (1957-09-24)24 September 1957		SPD	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Margaretha Sudhof Klaus Feiler
Senator for Health and Social Affairs		Mario Czaja born (1975-09-21)21 September 1975		CDU	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Emine Demirbüken-Wegner Dirk Gerstle
Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection		Thomas Heilmann born (1964-07-16)16 July 1964		CDU	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Alexander Straßmeir Sabine Toepfer-Kataw
Senator for Economics, Technology and Research		Cornelia Yzer born (1961-07-28)28 July 1961		CDU	11 December 2014	8 December 2016	Henner Bunde Hans Reckers