Kai Gehring

For the footballer, see Kai Gehring (footballer).

Kai Gehring
Member of the Bundestag
Incumbent
Assumed office
2005
Personal details
Born (1977-12-26) 26 December 1977 (age 46)
Mülheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
(now Germany)
Political partyAlliance '90/The Greens
Alma materRuhr University Bochum
ProfessionSociologist
Websitewww.kai-gehring.de

Kai Gehring (born 26 December 1977) is a German politician of the Green Party who has been serving as a Member of the German Parliament since 2005.

Early life and education

After receiving his Abitur in Velbert, Gehring majored in social sciences at the Ruhr University Bochum, earning his Diplom in 2003.

Political career

Career in state politics

Having joined the liberal party Alliance '90/The Greens in 1998, Gehring was part of the party’s leadership in North Rhine-Westphalia from 2000 until 2006, under chairwoman Sylvia Löhrmann.

Member of the German Parliament, 2005–present

Gehring was elected to the Bundestag in the 2005 federal election. Since joining the parliament, he has been serving on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. He has been his parliamentary group’s spokesperson for youth (2005–2011), education (2011–2013), and universities (2005–2017). From 2018 until 2021, he also served on the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.

In addition to his committee assignments, Gehring has served as deputy chairman of the German-Greek Parliamentary Friendship Group (2013–2017); the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States in the Middle East (since 2018), which is in charge of maintaining inter-parliamentary relations with Bahrain, Irak, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories; and the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Central African States (since 2018).

In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democrats (FDP) following the 2021 German elections, Gehring was part of his party's delegation in the working group on innovation and research, co-chaired by Thomas Losse-Müller, Katharina Fegebank and Lydia Hüskens.[1]

Since December 2021, Gehring has been chairing the Committee on Education and Research.[2]

In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Green Party under Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst following the 2022 state elections, Gehring was part of his party’s delegation in the working group on research, digitization and innovation, co-chaired by Anja Karliczek and Raoul Roßbach.[3]

In June 2024, Gehring announced that he would not stand in the 2025 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[4]

Other activities

References

  1. ^ Britt-Marie Lakämper (21 October 2021), SPD, Grüne, FDP: Diese Politiker verhandeln die Ampel-Koalition Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.
  2. ^ Silke Kerstin (14 December 2021), Ampelkoalition: Wie sich die Grünen im Bundestag neu aufstellen – und welche Kritik es gibt Handelsblatt.
  3. ^ GRÜNE benennen Team für Koalitionsverhandlungen Grüne NRW, press release of 31 May 2022.
  4. ^ Felix Hackenbruch (13 June 2024), „Zeit, zu neuen Ufern aufzubrechen“: Grüner Forschungspolitiker Gehring kündigt Rückzug aus Bundestag an Der Tagesspiegel.
  5. ^ Wahlen zu Gremien Bundestag, 13 October 2022.
  6. ^ Board of Trustees German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF).
  7. ^ Board of Trustees Aktion Deutschland Hilft.
  8. ^ Board of Trustees German National Association for Student Affairs.
  9. ^ Advisory Board on Student Affairs Heinrich Böll Foundation.
  10. ^ Board of Trustees Otto Benecke Foundation.