Germany's Social Democrats choose first female chair in hope of revamp

Designated SPD leader Andrea Nahles addresses a one-day party congress of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Wiesbaden, Germany, April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Wiesbaden, GERMANY/BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) elected Andrea Nahles as their first ever female leader on Sunday, hoping she can reinvigorate the country's oldest party after it suffered heavy losses in September's election.

Some 66 percent of SPD delegates at a congress voted for Nahles, a plain-speaking former labour minister and Catholic mother of one who has close links to trade unions and once said she wanted to be either a housewife or the German chancellor.