Who is Heidi Reichinnek?
Heidi Reichinnek was born in Merseburg in 1988, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, and worked in youth welfare. She sat on Osnabrück city council from 2016 to 2021 and led Die Linke in Lower Saxony from 2019 to 2023. She entered the Bundestag in 2021 and has co-led the Linke group with Sören Pellmann since February 2024. She was one of her party's two lead candidates in the 2025 federal election, alongside Jan van Aken.
Previously: Die Linke lead candidate in the 2025 federal election, with Jan van Aken · Member of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony (since 2021) · Chair of Die Linke in Lower Saxony (2019-2023) · Member of Osnabrück city council (2016-2021)
Documented positions
- Calls for a rent freeze, more social housing, removing VAT on basic foods and an income tax system that relieves the large majority.Source: bundestag.de
- Called in April 2026 for an immediate windfall tax, saying such profits could fund an energy crisis payment of 300 euros per person.Source: zdfheute.de
- Voted in March 2026 against replacing the Bürgergeld with the stricter Grundsicherung.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Voted in December 2025 against rejecting her group's motion to abolish inheritance tax breaks for the largest inheritances.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Voted in December 2025 against the military service law with compulsory screening for young men.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Voted in July 2026 against a Greens motion for additional military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Voted in February 2026 against the law implementing the EU asylum reform with border procedures.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Voted in June 2025 against suspending family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
Record
In June 2025 the Bundestag declined to elect Reichinnek to the parliamentary committee that oversees the intelligence services: she received 260 votes, short of the 316 required, after Union politicians questioned her party's stance on antisemitism. Die Linke called the result an affront and pointed to its help in enabling the second ballot that elected Merz as Chancellor in May 2025.
Ahead of the June 2026 party congress in Potsdam she ruled out standing for party chair, saying she would remain group leader. At the congress she, party chair Ines Schwerdtner and Pellmann announced a class struggle from below against social cuts and military buildup. Supporters cite her focus on rents and living costs; in October 2026 CSU chair Markus Söder called for a firewall against cooperation with her party. In the September 2026 Berlin election Die Linke finished ahead of the CDU.
In their words
“Was wir jetzt brauchen, ist sofort eine Übergewinnsteuer”
