Dagmar Schmidt

Dagmar Schmidt (born 13 March 1973) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag, the German parliament, since 2013.

Early life and education Schmidt was born in Gießen to politically active parents, who were SPD members. After her Abitur, she studied history at the University of Gießen. However, in 2013, placed sixth on the SPD party list for Hesse, she was elected to the Bundestag. She also became a member of the SPD executive committee. In 2017, she was re-elected, placed fourth on the SPD list for Hesse. She has since been serving on the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs.

In addition to her committee assignments, Schmidt has been serving as the chair of the German-Chinese Parliamentary Friendship Group since 2014. In this capacity, she has met with senior Chinese political advisors like CPPCC vice chair Gao Yunlong.

Since 2021, Schmidt has been serving as one her parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of chairman Rolf Mützenich.

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition under the leadership of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2025 German elections, Schmidt was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on labour and social affairs, led by Carsten Linnemann, Stephan Stracke and Katja Mast.

Political positions Schmidt’s political positions include support for , combining and extending existing benefits and subsidies to guarantee a child's right to have a certain minimum standard of living.

Personal life Dagmar Schmidt has a son, who was born in May 2013 with Down syndrome and an associated heart defect, which required several corrective surgeries. After the German federal election in September 2013, Schmidt became the first single mother of a child with Down syndrome to become a member of the Bundestag. In relation to prenatal testing, she has also argued for a "right not to know" and has said that parents of children with trisomy 21 should not have to justify the right for their child to be born.

Other activities Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2020) IG Metall, Member German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member Pro Asyl, Member