Claudia Roth: Vice-President of the Bundestag © DBT/Melde

Claudia Roth of Alliance 90/The Greens was elected as Vice-President of the German Bundestag on 22 October 2013. She was born on 15 May 1955 in Ulm and, after gaining her Abitur (higher-education entrance qualification) and graduating in Theatre Studies, worked as a dramaturge at the Städtischen Bühnen theatre in Dortmund and Hoffmans Comic Theater. She also managed the rock band Ton Steine Scherben.

Chairwoman of The Greens in the European Parliament

Roth was elected the Member of the Bundestag representing Augsburg-Stadt constituency via the Alliance 90/The Greens party list for Bavaria in 1998.

She was a member of the Young Democrats from 1971 to 1990, and has been a member of The Greens (later Alliance 90/The Greens) since 1987. From 1985 to 1989 she was press spokeswoman for The Greens in the Bundestag, and from 1989 to 1998 served as a Member of the European Parliament. From 1994 she was chairwoman of The Greens in the European Parliament.

Chairwoman of the Committee on Human Rights

Roth left the Bundestag on 31 March 2001 when she was elected chairwoman of Alliance 90/The Greens. Previously she had been chairwoman of the newly formed Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.She served as chairwoman of her party from 2001 to 2002 and from October 2004 to October 2013.

She returned to the Bundestag in the 2002 elections and has been a Member ever since. From March 2003 to October 2004 she was Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office. Roth was also elected spokeswoman of the Environmental Council of the German Football Association (DFB) in 2010.