Belit Onay confirmed as mayor of Hanover for eight years

Hanover's mayor Belit Onay (Greens) has been confirmed in office for another eight years. The 45-year-old received 61.5 percent of the votes in the runoff election, according to the state capital's preliminary results. His challenger Axel von der Ohe (SPD) got 38.5 percent.

Onay was the first Green to lead Hanover

Onay has led the administration of the Lower Saxony state capital since 2019. At that time, he was elected as the first Green to lead Hanover. The former member of the state parliament achieved 45.6 percent in the first round of voting two weeks ago and thus missed the necessary absolute majority.

The married father of two children was born in Goslar to Turkish immigrants and studied law in Hanover. From 2013, Onay sat in the Lower Saxony state parliament until his election as mayor. In 2019 he prevailed in the runoff election against the non-party candidate Eckhard Scholz, supported by the CDU.

Onay clearly stood out in the first round of voting

Challenger von der Ohe did not even receive half as many votes as incumbent Onay in the first round of voting - and still ended up in second place with 21.5 percent. The 49-year-old SPD politician is currently the first city councilor and general representative of the mayor. In the runoff election, he challenged his previous boss at the top of the administration - unsuccessfully.