Member of the Bundestag, 2002–2011

From 2002 to 2011, Bonde was a member of the Bundestag. There he represented his constituency 283 Emmendingen-Lahr, a rural area in the Black Forest that covers 41 municipalities in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Bonde was first elected in 2002 and was reelected in 2005 and 2009.

Bonde served on the Defense Committee and on the Budget Committee. He was also a member of the Financial Markets Committee that supervises the German banking rescue package.^[2] On the Budget Committee, Bonde served as “rapporteur-general” for agriculture (the equivalent to chairing a small subcommittee) as “rapporteur” (equivalent to being a member of a small subcommittee) for defence, economy and labor.

In addition to his committee assignments, Bonde served as vice-chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Group and of the Aviation & Space Caucus of the German Bundestag.

State Minister for Rural Areas and Consumer Rights, 2011–2016

In 2011, Bonde was appointed State Minister for Rural Areas, Agriculture and Consumer Rights in the state government of Baden-Württemberg under Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) under the leadership of Kretschmann following the 2016 state elections, Bonde led his party’s delegation in the working group on rural affairs and consumer protection.^[3] On 12 May 2016 Peter Hauk (CDU) became his successor.