Matthias Miersch to become acting general secretary of Germany's SPD

Matthias Miersch is set to become the acting general secretary of Germany's governing Social Democrats (SPD), dpa has learnt, after Kevin Kühnert announced his resignation earlier on Monday, citing health reasons.

SPD co-leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken proposed Miersch, the SPD parliamentary group's vice-chairman, to take on the role of general secretary and the party's executive committee unanimously endorsed the recommendation.

It was initially unclear whether he would take on the post full-time, or whether he would receive support from party leader Klingbeil, who has served as general secretary before.

Miersch, an experienced, left-leaning politician from the northern state of Lower Saxony, has been serving as a lawmaker for the centre-left party since 2005.

He is considered a strong advocate for the phase-out of fossil fuels and the turn to renewables.