Björn Engholm is a Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

 born German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was Minister-President

Minister-President

A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...

 of Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

 from 1988 to 1993 and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 between 1991 and 1993.

Engholm was elected Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein in 1988, in the wake of the Barschel affair / Waterkantgate - he had been spied on was a victim of severe defamation (HIV infection, tax evasion, etc.) by the Barschel campaign. The Social Democrats won an impressive 54.2% (up almost ten percent) and gained an absolute majority for the first time ever. It was also the first time that the SPD took over the office of Minister-President in Schleswig Holstein. Engholm served as President

President of the German Bundesrat

In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council is the chairperson or speaker of the Bundesrat . The presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government of each of the states on an annual basis...

 of the Bundesrat

Bundesrat of Germany

The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...

 in 1988/89.

While Engholm was popular with the electorate, he was forced to resign as party leader and Minister-President in 1993 after discrepancies surfaced over the testimonies he gave in the Barschel affair (Schubladenaffäre, drawer affair). A party official had paid DM 50.000 (kept in a kitchen drawer) to the spy of the Barschel affair to keep the espionage a secret for several weeks, to reveal the scandal on election weekend with a bigger impact and the present Engholm as a victim.

He was succeeded by Rudolf Scharping

Rudolf Scharping

Rudolf Scharping is a German politician .Scharping studied politics, sociology and law at the University of Bonn. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1966. He was Member of the Rhineland-Palatine Parliament from 1975 to 1994. From 21 May 1991 to 15 October 1994 he was prime minister of the...

 as party chairman and by Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis

Heide Simonis is a German politician. She is a member of the SPD.She was Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein from 1993 to 2005, the first woman to hold this position in any German state in Germany's history.-Life:...

 as Minister-President.

His wife is the painter Barbara Engholm.