1980 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

1980 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

←  1975 11 May 1980 1985  →
All 201 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	9,874,427 (80.0% 6.1 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Johannes Rau Kurt Biedenkopf [a] Liselotte Funcke Party SPD CDU FDP Last election 91 seats, 45.1% 95 seats, 47.1% 14 seats, 6.7% Seats won 106 95 0 Seat change 15 0 14 Popular vote 4,756,103 4,240,885 489,225 Percentage 48.4% 43.2% 4.98% Swing 3.3 pp 3.9 pp 1.7 pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election First Rau cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Second Rau cabinet SPD

The 1980 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 11 May 1980 to elect the 9th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

The result was a clear victory for the SPD, who won an absolute majority of 106 seats in the Landtag with 48.4% of the vote. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) declined to 43.2% and remained steady on 95 seats. The SPD's majority was ensured by the failure of the FDP to re-enter parliament: they fell just short of the 5% electoral threshold and lost all their seats. The SPD went on to form government alone for the first time in the state's history; Johannes Rau was re-elected Minister-President by the Landtag on 4 June. ^[1]

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 151 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty 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

Main article: 1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

In the previous election held on 4 May 1975, the CDU remained the largest party with an improved lead over the SPD, while the FDP made small gains. The governing coalition retained its majority and was subsequently renewed. In September 1978, SPD parliamentary leader and culture minister Johannes Rau replaced Heinz Kühn as Minister-President.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 8th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1975 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Kurt Biedenkopf [a]	47.1%	95 / 200
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Johannes Rau	45.1%	91 / 200
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Liselotte Funcke	6.7%	14 / 200

Results

106 95
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+/–
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	4,756,103	48.44	+3.31	94	12	106	+15
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	4,240,885	43.19	–3.86	57	38	95	±0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	489,225	4.98	–1.74	0	0	0	–14
	The Greens (GRÜNE)	291,379	2.97	New	0	0	0	New
	German Communist Party (DKP)	30,441	0.31	–0.22	0	0	0	±0
	The Citizens' Party (Bürgerpartei)	5,410	0.06	New	0	0	0	New
	Communist League of West Germany (KBW)	2,282	0.02	New	0	0	0	New
	Centre Party (ZENTRUM)	1,562	0.02	–0.08	0	0	0	±0
	European Labour Party (EAP)	649	0.01	±0.00	0	0	0	±0
	Union for Concrete Environmentalism (UNU)	200	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party (UAP)	180	0.00	±0.00	0	0	0	±0
	European Federalist Party (EFP)	92	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Green Party of Germany (GPD)	38	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Independents	72	0.00	–0.01	0	–	0	±0
Total		9,818,518	100.00	–	151	50	201	+1
Valid votes		9,818,518	99.43
Invalid/blank votes		55,909	0.57
Total votes		9,874,427	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		12,342,282	80.00
Source:

External links

• "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
• "We'll win ourselves to death". Der Spiegel (in German). 18 May 1980.

References

1. "Minutes of the Landtag session of 4 June 1980" (PDF). Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia (in German). 4 June 1980.

Notes

1. The CDU's original lead candidate was Heinrich Köppler, who died on 20 April, shortly before the election. Biedenkopf was appointed to replace him.