Christine Lambrecht (born 19 June 1965) is a German senior politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the German Federal Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from 2021 to 2023. In Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration, Lambrecht previously served as Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection (2019–2021), Minister for Family Affairs (2021) and as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries at the Federal Ministry of Finance (2018– 2019). She previously held various roles within the SPD Parliamentary Group, including as a Deputy Leader (from 2011 to 2013) and from December 2013 to September 2017 as first parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group. Education and early career Lambrecht attended the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Viernheim, in the German state of Hesse, and in 1984 she passed her Abitur. After this she studied law at the Universities of Mannheim and Mainz, where she graduated in 1992 and completed an internship at State Court in Darmstadt. Political career Career in local politics Lambrecht joined the SPD in 1982 and was a member of the Viernheim City Council from 1985 till 2001, of which she was the chair in the years 1997 till 2001. Additionally she was a member of the Bergstraße County Council from 1989 until 1997. Member of the German Parliament, 1998–2021 Lambrecht first became a Member of the Bundestag in the 1998 elections. From 1998 until 2002 she was the member for Bergstraße, however, she lost against her CDU challenger in the 2002 federal election and has subsequently always been elected via the SPD Hessian state list. In parliament, she has served on the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Committee on Sports and on the Council of Elders, which sets the agenda for the parliamentary sessions. Lambrecht was seen as being on the left wing of the SPD parliamentary group. From 2002 until 2005 and from 2013 until 2017, Lambrecht served on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), the Federal Labour Court (BAG), and the Federal Social Court (BSG). Following the 2009 elections, Lambrecht became her parliamentary group's spokesperson on legal affairs. In 2011, she was elected as a deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Frank-Walter Steinmeier. She was a deputy leader of the group