Thomas Westphal

Thomas Westphal (born 22 February 1967, Lübeck,[1] Germany) is an economist,[1] politician (SPD) and managing director of City of Dortmund Economic Development Agency. Previously, he was managing director of business development metropoleruhr (Wirtschaftsförderung metropoleruhr, wmr), whose advisory board he still belongs to today.[2] From 1993 to 1995 he was Federal Chairman of the Jusos.[3] From 1 Nov 2020,[4] Westphal will be the lord mayor of Dortmund.[5]

Thomas Westphal
Thomas Westphal, 2018
Lord Mayor of Dortmund
Designated
Assumed office
1 Nov 2020
Preceded byUllrich Sierau
Personal details
Born (1967-02-22) 22 February 1967
Lübeck, Germany
Political partySocial Democratic Party of Germany
OccupationPolitician

Professional career

Westphal grew up in Lübeck and studied economics at the Hochschule für Politik und Wirtschaft in Hamburg. He is a long-standing co-editor of Spw – Zeitschrift für sozialistische Politik und Wirtschaft (Journal for Socialist Politics and Economy).[6]

After Westphal was managing director of managing director of business development metropoleruhr (wmr) from 2010,[7] he took over the post of managing director of the Economic Development Agency of the City of Dortmund in 2013.[3] He previously worked for Rhenus AG, SCI Verkehr GmbH, ISA Consult and most recently for Wincanton GmbH in Weinheim.

During his work as managing director of the Economic Development Agency, Westphal initiated a new economic policy orientation for the City of Dortmund from the end of 2014.

Westphal describes start-ups of new companies as a “crucial driving force” for structural change in Dortmund.[8] By attracting new, knowledge-intensive start-ups and increasing the number of branches of local companies, Dortmund should become an important location for innovation. In concrete terms, this means the establishment of new research institutes and universities and the long-term commitment of founders to Dortmund. In this way, the entire city’s demand for services such as gastronomy, hotels and retail is to be increased by tying skilled workers and trade tax revenues to Dortmund as a location.[9]

Politics

Early years and federal chairman of the Jusos

Initially, Thomas Westphal was active in Lübeck and Schleswig-Holstein for the Jusos and in the SPD. He was part of a political movement who called themselfes „Juso-Linke“ (Juso-left) and were also known as “Stamokaps” (Staatsmonopolistischer Kapitalismus, state monopolistic capitalism).

Westphal was elected as the federal chairman of the Jusos at the Juso federal congress in 1993. At the Juso federal congress in Gera in May, 1995 he was re-elected a one vote majority over his opponent Stephan Grüger of the so-called Reformsozialisten (reform socialists). Because invalid votes for Westphal had been counted and delegates who had not been correctly elected had been reported from different regional associations (Landesverbände), the federal arbitration commission (Bundesschiedskommission) of the SPD declared the election of the chairperson invalid a few weeks later. At the following extraordinary federal congress of the Jusos with repeat elections in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, he renounced a new candidacy there and proposed Andrea Nahles as his successor.[10]

SPD vice chairman and Lord Mayor of Dortmund

Since April, 2018, Westphal is vice chairman of the SPD sub-district of Dortmund. He ran as the SPD’s candidate at the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2020 for the position of the Lord Mayor of Dortmund.[11] In the first ballot on September 13, he received 35.87% of the vote[12] entered the runoff on September 27, where he won over the CDU candidate Andreas Hollstein with 52.06%.[13] He will take office on November 1, 2020. He succeeds Ullrich Sierau (SPD), who was no longer a candidate.

Personal life

Thomas Westphal lives in Dortmund since 1996.[3] He is married and has two children.[14]

References
  1. "Thomas Westphal wird neuer Geschäftsführer der wmr". experconsult.de. Archived from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  2. "Aufsichtsrat & Beirat". business.metropoleruhr.de. 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  3. "Thomas Westphal wird neuer Geschäftsführer". ruhrnachrichten.de. Archived from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  4. "AfD Dortmund zwingt OB Sierau in Sondersitzung und fordert dort seinen Rücktritt – und das kurz vor seinem Rücktritt". ruhr24.de. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  5. "Oberbürgermeisterstichwahl - Kommunalwahlen / RVR-Wahl 2020 in der Stadt Dortmund - Gesamtergebnis". wahlen.digistadtdo.de. 1997-07-26. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  6. "Das sind wir!". spw.de. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  7. PresseBox (c) 2002-2019 (2010-09-28). "Thomas Westphal wird neuer Geschäftsführer der wmr, Business Metropole Ruhr GmbH (BMR), Pressemitteilung - PresseBox" (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  8. Michael Schnitzler. "Zwei Brüder werben für den Gründerstandort Dortmund und die Gründermesse "Die Initiale"" (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  9. "Drucksache Nr.: 13824-14" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  10. Henning Sußebach (2017-04-09). "Andrea Nahles, neue Vorsitzende der Jusos". berliner-zeitung.de. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  11. "Unser OB-Kandidat: Thomas Westphal". Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  12. "Oberbürgermeisterwahl - Kommunalwahlen / RVR-Wahl 2020 in der Stadt Dortmund - Gesamtergebnis". Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  13. "Oberbürgermeisterstichwahl - Kommunalwahlen / RVR-Wahl 2020 in der Stadt Dortmund - Gesamtergebnis". Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  14. "Westphal ist neuer Wirtschaftsförderer" (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-05.
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