1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

Last updated
1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg
  1990 14 May 1995 2000  

All 221 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 20 overhang and leveling seats
111 seats needed for a majority
Turnout8,353,056 (64.0% Decrease2.svg 7.7pp)
 First partySecond party
  Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F073494-0025, Bundespressekonferenz, Bundestagswahlkampf, Rau.jpg KAS-Linssen, Helmut-Bild-6700-1.jpg
Candidate Johannes Rau Helmut Linssen
Party SPD CDU
Last election122 seats, 50.0%89 seats, 36.7%
Seats won10889
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 14Steady2.svg 0
Popular vote3,816,6393,124,758
Percentage46.0%37.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg 4.0ppIncrease2.svg 1.0pp

 Third partyFourth party
  Bhoehn.jpg Achim Rohde (cropped).png
Candidate Bärbel Höhn Achim Rohde
Party Greens FDP
Last election12 seats, 5.0%14 seats, 6.0%
Seats won240
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 12Decrease2.svg 14
Popular vote830,861332,634
Percentage10.0%4.0%
SwingIncrease2.svg 5.0ppDecrease2.svg 1.8pp

1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election.svg
Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Fourth Rau cabinet
SPD

Government after election

Fifth Rau cabinet
SPDGreen

The 1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 1995 to elect the 12th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

Contents

The SPD remained the largest party but lost its majority for the first time since 1980, declining to 46%. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) made small gains and took 37.7% of the vote. The Greens achieved a significant victory, doubling their vote share to 10% and winning 24 seats. Since the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell below the 5% electoral threshold and lost representation, the Greens alone held the balance of power. They subsequently formed a coalition with the SPD.

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. The minimum size of the Landtag was 201 members, but if overhang seats were present, proportional leveling seats were added to ensure proportionality. 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

In the previous election held on 13 May 1990, the SPD retained a reduced majority with just under 50% of the vote. The CDU failed to recoup their losses from the previous election and took 37%, while the FDP remained steady on 6% and the Greens narrowly surpassed 5% and won seats for the first time. The SPD won 121 of the 151 constituencies, necessitating the addition of leveling seats which boosted the Landtag to a record size of 237 members (later 239 after an election review). The SPD once again formed government alone and Johannes Rau continued as Minister-President.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 11th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

NameIdeologyLead
candidate
1990 result
Votes (%)Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Johannes Rau 50.0%
122 / 237
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Helmut Linssen 36.7%
89 / 237
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Achim Rohde5.8%
14 / 237
GRÜNE Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Green politics Bärbel Höhn 5.0%
12 / 237

Campaign

The election followed the October 1994 federal election and March 1995 Hessian state election, both of which had seen victories for the incumbent government and significant gains for the Greens. In Hesse, the SPD suffered its worst result since 1946.

The CDU held a membership ballot to select their lead candidate. With 59.6% of votes, Landtag faction leader Helmut Linssen prevailed against MdB and state secretary Norbert Lammert.

Beside the influence of federal politics, where popular support for the Kohl government was declining due to growing economic difficulties, environmental issues dominated the campaign. Garzweiler II, a proposed lignite-mining project, was particularly contentious: the project, which would have involved forced resettlement of local residents, was generally supported by the SPD and firmly rejected by the Greens. The CDU opposition focused on topics such as education, domestic security and crime, and support for local industries, though their positions were not markedly different from those of the SPD. As such, most controversy during the campaign was between the SPD and the Greens.

Results

24
108
89
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+/–
Social Democratic Party (SPD)3,816,63946.02–3.961080108–14
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)3,124,75837.67+0.97434689±0
Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE)830,86110.02+4.9702424+12
Free Democratic Party (FDP)332,6344.01–1.75000–14
The Republicans (REP)65,5090.79–1.06000±0
The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE)58,1550.70New000New
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)21,1590.26–0.24000±0
Natural Law Party (Naturgesetz)12,9480.16New000New
Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei)9,9360.12New000New
German Communist Party (DKP)6,0080.07+0.04000±0
Party of Bible-abiding Christians (PBC)5,7770.07New000New
Statt Party (STATT)3,0340.04New000New
Rhineland Party – The European Federalists (RP)2,7570.03New000New
Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (BüSo)8500.01New000New
Christian Centre (CM)5560.01±0.00000±0
Drivers' and Citizens' Interest Party (APD)5160.01New000New
Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE)2730.00±0.00000±0
Independent Workers' Party (UAP)1520.00New000New
Consciousness (Bewußtsein)1030.00New000New
Humanist Party (HP)400.00New000New
Independents 1,5700.02–0.0300±0
Total8,294,235100.0015170221–16
Valid votes8,294,23599.30
Invalid/blank votes58,8210.70
Total votes8,353,056100.00
Registered voters/turnout13,041,96464.05
Source:

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