Party conference: FDP is working on a comeback – Kubicki relies on the economic party

The barriers are gone, and so is the crowd: From Berlin, the FDP is fighting for a political restart at a federal party conference after many defeats. Do the Liberals have a future?

A flag with the inscription “FDP Comeback” has already been hoisted in front of the party headquarters: With a view to five state elections that are vital for the Liberals next year, FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki is focusing on a policy for more economic growth. At the federal party conference in Berlin, he warned of the consequences of economic weakness and financial worries that made voters doubt democracy's ability to solve problems.

“Germany is currently losing 15,000 industrial jobs every month: in the auto industry, suppliers, in metal construction, in mechanical engineering, in chemistry,” said Kubicki. "If we don't change quickly, we will lose more than just money. We will then lose faith that democracy best protects our interests."

The FDP is setting the course for a new start in Berlin after failing to pass the five percent hurdle in the 2025 federal election and then being thrown out of several state parliaments. The Presidium and the Federal Executive Board then resigned. Long-time party leader Christian Lindner ended his political career and switched to business.

How can the comeback succeed?

The FDP is now working on party reform. Applications for this were on the table in Berlin, including the possibility of dual leadership, more transparency in candidacies and support for voluntary officials in the area. The executive committee was in a conference room and the delegates were connected.

Members from the federal states reported on the efforts of rebuilding where the liberal network has largely collapsed. The Young Liberals warned that politics would no longer be done in the smoky corner bars of the Bonn Republic.

Liberal ideas have recently no longer appealed to voters in the area. This year, the FDP flew from the state parliaments in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and also Saxony-Anhalt, there as part of the - currently still acting - state government. The party is currently only represented in the state parliaments of North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Bremen.

The younger generation lacks awareness. The start is also difficult from the extra-parliamentary opposition. By far the best-known FDP face in a political office outside the party remains the combative EU politician and defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.

And the mood has also changed. In the 2021 federal election, the FDP was still the strongest force among first-time voters with 23 percent - hard to imagine at the moment. Even in the FDP's very own field, there is now competition from the Volt party that could be interesting for business and technology-oriented young people.

The FDP is facing crucial elections next year, said Kubicki in Berlin. He named Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Bremen and Lower Saxony. Kubicki spoke out against the federal government and extensively criticized the Greens and SPD in Berlin for their efforts to form a government with the Left.

From Berlin, the party leader motivates the FDP delegates on the screens: “Get to work, then get out on the streets and reach out to the people.” In an interview before the party conference, he was sure that the party would make it into the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein in 2027. He told the “Rheinpfalz” that he was “deeply relaxed”. But: "If, contrary to expectations, I don't succeed, I'll stop. That also applies to the FDP. Then that's it."