![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 69 seats in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein 35 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turnout | 1,328,452 (60.2%)![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Results for the single-member constituencies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The 2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 6 May 2012 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. [1] [2] The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union and Free Democratic Party (FDP) was defeated. [3] Though the CDU remained the largest party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) negotiated a coalition with The Greens and the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). This was dubbed the "Danish traffic light" or "Namibia coalition". SPD leader Torsten Albig was subsequently elected Minister-President by the Landtag.
After the 2009 state election, the CDU formed a coalition with the FDP under Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen. Due to ambiguity and complications with the electoral law, the election result was the subject of a legal challenge by the Greens, SSW, and The Left. In August 2010, the state Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral law was unconstitutional. The court mandated that a new electoral law be legislated within six months and that new elections be held by September 2012, two years ahead of schedule.
Minister-President Carstensen had stated his intention to retire at the next election. The CDU therefore needed to pick a candidate to succeed him as Minister-President if they won the election. At a party conference in May 2011, they chose Christian von Boetticher, incumbent deputy Minister-President and leader of the CDU parliamentary group. In August, however, von Boetticher resigned these positions after it was revealed that he had been involved in an intimate relationship with a 16-year-old girl as recently as 2010. Two days later, the CDU announced that Minister of Science, Economic Affairs and Transport Jost de Jager had been nominated as their new candidate for Minister-President.
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein.
Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2009 result | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Jost de Jager | 31.5% | 34 / 95 | |
SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Torsten Albig | 25.4% | 25 / 95 | |
FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei | Classical liberalism | Wolfgang Kubicki | 14.9% | 14 / 95 | |
Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | Robert Habeck | 12.4% | 12 / 95 | |
Linke | The Left Die Linke | Democratic socialism | Antje Jansen | 6.0% | 6 / 95 | |
SSW | South Schleswig Voters' Association Südschleswigscher Wählerverband | Danish and Frisian minority interests | Anke Spoorendonk | 4.3% | 4 / 95 |
Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | CDU | SPD | FDP | Grüne | Linke | SSW | Piraten | Others | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 state election | 6 May 2012 | – | 30.8 | 30.4 | 8.2 | 13.2 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 8.2 | 2.4 | 0.4 |
GMS | 28 Apr–1 May 2012 | 1,002 | 32 | 33 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
Infratest dimap | 24–26 Apr 2012 | 1,001 | 30 | 32 | 6 | 13 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 23–26 Apr 2012 | 1,003 | 31 | 31 | 7 | 12.5 | 2.5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | Tie |
Infratest dimap | 12–17 Apr 2012 | 1,000 | 31 | 32 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
Infratest dimap | 10–11 Apr 2012 | 1,000 | 32 | 32 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 2 | Tie |
Infratest dimap | 22–27 Mar 2012 | 1,000 | 34 | 32 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
dimap | 9–13 Mar 2012 | 1,003 | 34 | 33 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ? | 1 |
Forsa | March 2012 | ? | 35 | 35 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ? | Tie |
Infratest dimap | 13–16 Feb 2012 | 1,000 | 33 | 33 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | Tie |
Emnid | 17–19 Jan 2012 | 1,000 | 34 | 32 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
Forsa | 15–17 Nov 2011 | 1,002 | 33 | 32 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
Infratest dimap | 26–27 Sep 2011 | 1,000 | 30 | 34 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Forsa | 15 Aug 2011 | 752 | 30 | 32 | 4 | 19 | 4 | 4 | – | 7 | 2 |
Infratest dimap | 13–16 May 2011 | 1,000 | 33 | 31 | 4 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Forsa | 31 Aug–1 Sep 2010 | 751 | 31 | 31 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 5 | – | 3 | Tie |
Infratest dimap | 30–31 Aug 2010 | 1,001 | 32 | 32 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 4 | – | 4 | Tie |
IfM Leipzig | 29–31 Mar 2010 | 823 | 31 | 22 | 12 | 20 | 6 | 4 | – | 5 | 9 |
2009 state election | 27 September 2009 | – | 31.5 | 25.4 | 14.9 | 12.4 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 6.1 |
Polling firm | Fieldwork date | ![]() | ![]() | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jost de Jager CDU | Torsten Albig SPD | |||
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 27 Apr 2012 | 29 | 44 | 15 |
Infratest dimap | 26 Apr 2012 | 27 | 49 | 22 |
Infratest dimap | 19 Apr 2012 | 32 | 56 | 24 |
Infratest dimap | 12 Apr 2012 | 31 | 53 | 22 |
Infratest dimap | 29 Mar 2012 | 33 | 49 | 26 |
Infratest dimap | 17 Feb 2012 | 29 | 45 | 16 |
Infratest dimap | 28 Sep 2011 | 27 | 45 | 18 |
Forsa | 17 Aug 2011 | 30 | 34 | 4 |
The SPD recovered some of the voteshare it had lost in the 2009 election while the CDU stagnated. This led to a very close result, with both parties winning 22 seats, but the CDU leading with 30.8% of the vote to the SPD's 30.4%. On paper, the FDP was the biggest loser of the election, almost halving its voteshare from its impressive showing in 2009. However, compared to the national trend, the Schleswig-Holstein result was an unexpected success; and until April, state polling had predicted that the FDP would lose all its seats. The Greens marginally improved their performance compared to 2009. The Left fared poorly, losing all its seats after only 3 years in the Landtag. The Pirate Party won 8.2%, entering the Landtag for the first time. This came after successes in the 2011 Berlin state election and 2012 Saarland state election in the preceding months. The SSW achieved its best result since 1950 with 4.6%.
![]() | |||||||
Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 408,637 | 30.8 | ![]() | 22 | ![]() | 31.9 | |
Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 404,048 | 30.4 | ![]() | 22 | ![]() | 31.9 | |
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 174,953 | 13.2 | ![]() | 10 | ![]() | 14.5 | |
Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 108,953 | 8.2 | ![]() | 6 | ![]() | 8.7 | |
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) | 108,902 | 8.2 | ![]() | 6 | ![]() | 8.7 | |
South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW) | 61,025 | 4.6 | ![]() | 3 | ![]() | 4.3 | |
The Left (Linke) | 29,900 | 2.3 | ![]() | 0 | ![]() | 0 | |
Family Party (Familie) | 12,758 | 1.0 | ![]() | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Others | 19,276 | 1.5 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Total | 1,328,452 | 100.0 | 69 | ![]() | |||
Voter turnout | 60.2 | ![]() |
The outgoing CDU–FDP government lost its majority, winning just 28 of the 35 seats needed for a majority. The SPD–Green bloc also fell short with 32 seats. CDU candidate Jost de Jager invited both the FDP and Greens to discuss a potential coalition, but neither party accepted. The SPD, Greens, and SSW began discussions for forming a government together. This was dubbed the "Danish traffic light", a play on the red-yellow-green "traffic light coalition", with the "yellow" FDP substituted for the "Danish" SSW. It would have a narrow, one-seat majority. This same arrangement had been attempted after the 2005 state election, but unexpectedly failed when one of the government members abstained. Pirate Party leader Torge Schmidt suggested that his party could lend their support to the Danish traffic light, though this never came to fruition.
Coalition talks succeeded, and the Landtag voted to confirm Torsten Albig as the new Minister-President. The government received 37 votes, meaning that at least two opposition members voted in favour.
The South Schleswig Voters' Association is a regionalist political party in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The party represents the Danish and Frisian minorities of the state.
The 2005 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 20 February 2005 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Heide Simonis was defeated, bringing an end to 17 years of SPD governments in the state.
Peter Harry Carstensen is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2005 to 2012 he was Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 2005/06.
The Schleswig-Holstein Landtag is the state parliament of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It convenes in the state's capital Kiel and currently consists of 69 members of five parties. The current majority consists of coalition of the Christian Democratic Union and the Greens, supporting the cabinet of Minister President Daniel Günther.
Ralf Stegner is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag for the constituency of Pinneberg since the 2021 elections.
The 2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. It was held on the same day as the 2009 federal election and the 2009 Brandenburg state election.
The 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 9 May 2010 to elect the 15th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Jürgen Rüttgers.
The 2012 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 13 May 2012 to elect the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The incumbent minority government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hannelore Kraft was returned with a majority and continued in office. The seat count drastically increased from 181 in the previous election to 237.
Torsten Albig is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany. From 2012 until 2017 he served as the 13th Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein.
Anke Spoorendonk is a German politician from the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). From 12 June 2012, until 28 June 2017 she was the Minister of Justice, Culture and European Affairs in the state government of Schleswig-Holstein.
The 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 13 March 2016 to elect the members of the 15th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The incumbent government of The Greens and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann lost its majority.
The 2017 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 7 May 2017 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The incumbent government was led by Minister-President Torsten Albig, and consisted of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Greens, and the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). The government lost its majority in the election.
The 2017 Lower Saxony state election was held on 15 October 2017 to elect the 18th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Stephan Weil was defeated. Though the SPD became the largest party in the Landtag largely fueled by the personal popularity of Weil, their gains were offset by losses for the Greens, depriving the government of its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Weil continued as Minister-President.
Monika Heinold is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens and current Schleswig-Holstein Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Finance.
The 2021 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 14 March 2021 to elect the 17th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The outgoing government was a coalition of Alliance 90/The Greens and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann.
The 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 6 June 2021 to elect the 8th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The outgoing government was coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD), and The Greens, led by Minister-President Reiner Haseloff.
The 2022 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 8 May 2022 to elect the 20th Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), The Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), led by Minister-President Daniel Günther.
In Germany's federal electoral system, a single party or parliamentary group rarely wins an absolute majority of seats in the Bundestag, and thus coalition governments, rather than single-party governments, are the usually expected outcome of a German election. As German political parties are often associated with particular colors, coalitions are frequently given nicknames based on the colors included. Prominent political parties in Germany are the CDU/CSU (black), the SPD (red), the Greens (green), the Left, the AfD (blue), and the FDP (yellow).
The first Günther cabinet was the state government of Schleswig-Holstein from between 2017 and 2022, sworn in after Daniel Günther was elected as Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein by the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. It was the 26th Cabinet of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Second Günther cabinet is the current state government of Schleswig-Holstein, sworn in on 29 June 2022 after Daniel Günther was elected as Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein by the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the 27th Cabinet of Schleswig-Holstein.