1983 Hessian state election

25 September 1983

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 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.

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

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

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

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

Party Votes  % Swing Seats
Con. List Total +/-
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1,559,725 46.23 Increase 3.41 42 9 51 Increase 2
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1,329,292 39.40 Decrease 6.22 13 31 44 Decrease 8
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 256,802 7.61 Increase 4.53 0 8 8 Increase 8
The Greens (GRÜNE) 200,415 5.94 Decrease 2.09 0 7 7 Decrease 2
Liberal Democrats (LD) 13,553 0.40 New 0 0 0 New
German Communist Party (DKP) 8,697 0.26 Decrease 0.11 0 0 0 Steady 0
Democratic Socialists (DS) 3,221 0.10 New 0 0 0 New
European Labour Party (EAP) 1,224 0.04 Decrease 0.03 0 0 0 Steady 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 Steady 0
Invalid 30,803 0.90
Turnout 3,404,656 83.54 Decrease 2.83
Registered voters 4,075,611
  • "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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