Leszek Miller
A former communist turned social democrat
Latest update juni 2024
Leszek Miller was born in 1946 and worked as a labourer from the age of 17. He managed to complete a degree in political science and in 1969 he was accepted into the Communist Party. In 1988 he became secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and in 1989 he participated in the roundtable talks as a representative of Communist Poland. At the same time, he was admitted to the Politburo – a small, exclusive circle of leading communists.
Social Democrat with corruption scandals
After the dissolution of the communist party in 1990, Miller became a social democrat, along with a number of other old party comrades. By 1990, Miller left all talk of socialism behind and recognised that society was liberal. It also made him willing to seek advice from free-market economists.
He has been a member of the Sejm 1991-2005 and 2011 to 2015.
From 2019 – 2024 he was a Member of the European Parliament, where he chose not to stand for re-election. Even though Miller is now retired, we will probably hear from him in the media.
From 1999 to 2004, he was the leader of the left-wing alliance SLD. He has been a minister several times and became Prime Minister in 2001. After a series of corruption scandals among his companions, he was forced out in 2004, after which the government was led by the formally impartial Marek Belka.
Miller is a cork stopper. You can knock him down, but he always comes back. He probably has a sincere desire to work for the good of Poland, but I also get the distinct impression that he sees the “party” and “old friends” as a kind of club where you support each other. This is not unusual in Poland, nor in other parties, but Miller has probably sublimated the role to the extreme.
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