1983 Hessian state election

The 1983 Hessian state election was held on 25 September 1983 to elect the 11th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a caretaker cabinet of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Holger Börner. The election was called after the Landtag's failure to elect a government after the 1982 election.

1983 Hessian state election

← 1982 25 September 1983 1987 →

All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,404,656 (83.5% Decrease 2.8pp)
  First party Second party
 
-Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F055060-0007A, Köln, SPD-Parteitag, Börner-2.jpg
KAS-Wallmann, Walter-Bild-5166-1 (cropped).jpg
Candidate Holger Börner Walter Wallmann
Party SPD CDU
Last election 49 seats, 42.8% 52 seats, 45.6%
Seats won 51 44
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 8
Popular vote 1,559,725 1,329,292
Percentage 46.2% 39.4%
Swing Increase 3.4pp Decrease 6.2pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049586-0009, Frankfurt, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry (cropped).jpg
Candidate Ekkehard Gries Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling
Party FDP Greens
Last election 0 seats, 3.1% 9 seats, 8.0%
Seats won 8 7
Seat change Increase 8 Decrease 2
Popular vote 256,801 200,415
Percentage 7.6% 5.9%
Swing Increase 4.5pp Decrease 2.1pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Second Börner cabinet
SPD

Government after election

Third Börner cabinet
SPD

The result was a victory for the SPD, who clearly overtook the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to become the largest party, though still short of a majority. Despite pledging during the campaign not to work with the Greens, Börner negotiated a confidence agreement with the party and was re-elected as Minister-President in June 1984 with their support. This SPD minority government lasted until October 1985, when they formed a coalition with the Greens, the first such coalition in Germany.

Electoral system

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The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

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The previous election, held on 26 September 1982, delivered an inconclusive result. Though the CDU and SPD remained first and second, respectively, with only slight losses, the FDP fell to 3% and lost their seats in the Landtag for the first time. At the same time, the new ecologist Green party entered with 8% and held the balance of power. The CDU offered to form a grand coalition, but Minister-President Börner refused and decided to continue his cabinet as a minority government, despite being the second largest party with no supporting partners. When the government's budget was defeated, Börner was forced to call early elections just a year after the last.

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the 10th Landtag of Hesse.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate
1982 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Walter Wallmann 45.6%
52 / 110
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Holger Börner 42.8%
49 / 110
GRÜNE The Greens
Die Grünen
Green politics Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling 8.0%
9 / 110

Election result

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Party Votes % Swing Seats
Con. List Total +/-
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1,559,725 46.23   3.41 42 9 51   2
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1,329,292 39.40   6.22 13 31 44   8
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 256,802 7.61   4.53 0 8 8   8
The Greens (GRÜNE) 200,415 5.94   2.09 0 7 7   2
Liberal Democrats (LD) 13,553 0.40 New 0 0 0 New
German Communist Party (DKP) 8,697 0.26   0.11 0 0 0   0
Democratic Socialists (DS) 3,221 0.10 New 0 0 0 New
European Labour Party (EAP) 1,224 0.04   0.03 0 0 0   0
Foreigner Repatriation Action (AAR) 890 0.03 New 0 0 0 New
Federation of Socialist Workers (BSA) 35 0.00 New 0 0 0 New
Total 3,373,853 100.00 55 55 110   0
Invalid 30,803 0.90
Turnout 3,404,656 83.54   2.83
Registered voters 4,075,611
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  • "Final Results for the Landtag election of 25 September 1983" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 29 September 1983. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  • "Elections to the Hessian Landtag, September 25, 1983". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2023.

Notes

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