Lower Saxony state election, 2008

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Lower Saxony state election, 2008
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←  2003 27 January 2008 (2008-01-27) 2013  →
All 152 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
77 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond partyThird party
  Landtag Niedersachsen DSCF7769.JPG Landtag Niedersachsen DSCF7302.JPG Roesler-klein.jpg
Leader Christian Wulff Wolfgang Jüttner Philipp Rösler
Party CDU SPD FDP
Last election91 seats, 48,3%63 seats, 33,4%15 seats, 8,1%
Seats before916315
Seats won684813
Seat changeDecrease2.svg23Decrease2.svg15Decrease2.svg2
Popular vote1.455.6871.035.894279.557
Percentage42,5%30,3%8,2%
SwingDecrease2.svg5,8Decrease2.svg3,1Increase2.svg0,1
 Fourth partyFifth party
  Landtag Niedersachsen DSCF7803.JPG Landtag Niedersachsen DSCF7385.JPG
Leader Stefan Wenzel Kreszentia Flauger
Party Green Left
Last election14 seats, 7,6%0 seats, 0,3%
Seats before140
Seats won1211
Seat changeDecrease2.svg2Increase2.svg11
Popular vote273.934243.106
Percentage8,0%7,1%
SwingIncrease2.svg0,4Increase2.svg6,6
Ministerpräsident before election

Christian Wulff
CDU

Resulting Ministerräsident

Christian Wulff
CDU

Germany
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The 2008 Lower Saxony state election was held in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany on 27 January 2008. Despite losing votes and seats, the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) held on to its position as the leading party in the state. The CDU's coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was able to continue after the election, [1] although their majority was cut from 29 to 10.

Lower Saxony State in Germany

Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) situated in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,624 km2 (18,388 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps, Lake Constance and the High Rhine to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Free Democratic Party (Germany) Political party in Germany

The Free Democratic Party is a liberal and classical liberal political party in Germany. The FDP is led by Christian Lindner.

Contents

Campaign

Lower Saxony was seen as a stronghold of the Christian Democratic Union [2] and their leader Christian Wulff was seen as likely to easily defeat the Social Democrats. [3] The election in Lower Saxony took place at the same time as an election in the state of Hesse and Wulff was seen as a more moderate leader than Roland Koch in Hesse and consequently more likely to perform better in the election. [4] The CDU government had held spending down, introduced tuition fees for university students, while supporting the minimum wage. [5] The Social Democrats (SPD) led their campaign with a call for a national minimum wage for all workers. [6] The SPD leader in Lower Saxony, Wolfgang Jüttner, was little known to voters and unusually during the campaign made an attack on Wolff for his personal life. [7]

Christian Wulff President of Germany from 2010 to 2012

Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is a German politician and lawyer. He served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union, he served as Prime Minister of the state of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010. He was elected President in the 30 June 2010 presidential election, defeating opposition candidate Joachim Gauck and taking office immediately, although he was not sworn in until 2 July.

Social Democratic Party of Germany political party in Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany, or SPD, is a social-democratic political party in Germany.

Roland Koch German politician

Roland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician of the CDU. He was the 7th Minister President of Hesse from 7 April 1999, immediately becoming the 53rd President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on 31 August 2010. During his time in office, Koch was widely regarded as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's main rivals within the CDU.

An opinion poll conducted from 2–4 January showed the CDU on 45% and their coalition allies the Free Democrats on 7%, sufficient to retain a majority together. The Social Democrats were on 33%, The Green Party on 8% and The Left on 3%. [8] This was similar to what a poll in December had shown and confirmed the strong position of the CDU in the election. [9]

Opinion poll type of survey

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

The Left (Germany) political party in Germany

The Left, also commonly referred to as the Left Party, is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. It is considered to be left-wing populist by some researchers. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG). Through the PDS, the party is the direct descendant of the ruling party of the former East Germany (GDR), the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).

Election results

The results saw the Christian Democratic Union easily defeat the Social Democrats, despite suffering a drop in votes and seats. [10] [11] As a result their leader Christian Wulff was seen as having strengthened his chances of succeeding national CDU leader Angela Merkel. [12] The 30.3% of the vote that the Social Democrats won was the worst performance by the party in Lower Saxony since the Second World War, [5] which was described as a 'disaster' for the party. [12] Turnout in the election was 57%. [12]

Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany

Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She served as the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2000 to 2018. Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and by many commentators as the leader of the Free World.

Voter turnout percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the voting-eligible population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, but some countries further restrict eligibility based on sex, race, or religion.

The Left Party entered the Lower Saxony assembly for the first time after winning 7.1% of the vote, safely above the 5% threshold required in order to win seats. [13] Along with the election in Hesse this was the first time the Left Party had won seats in any large state in western Germany. [14]

The electoral threshold is the minimum share of the primary vote which a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to any representation in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ways. For example, in party-list proportional representation systems an election threshold requires that a party must receive a specified minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or in a particular electoral district, to obtain any seats in the legislature. In multi-member constituencies using preferential voting, besides the electoral threshold, to be awarded a seat, a candidate is also required to achieve a quota, either on the primary vote or after distribution of preferences, which depends on the number of members to be return from a constituency.

e  •  d  Summary of the 27 January 2008 election results for the Landtag of Lower Saxony
PartyIdeologyVote % (change)Seats (change)Seat %
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) christian democracy 42.5%−5.8%68−2344.7%
Social Democratic Party (SPD) social democracy 30.3%−3.1%48−1531.6%
Free Democratic Party (FDP) free market 8.2%+0.1%13−28.6%
Green Party (Bündnis 90/Grünen) environmental 8.0%+0.4%12−27.9%
The Left (Die Linke) democratic socialism 7.1%+6.6%11+117.2%
National Democratic Party (NPD) extreme nationalist 1.5%+1.5%0+00%
Free Voters (FW)various0.5%+0.5%0+00%
All Others (gaining less than 0.5%)2.0%+0.0%0+00%
Total100.0% 152-31100.0%
Source: Parties and Elections in Europe

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References

  1. ↑ Kulish, Nicholas (2008-01-28). "Merkel Party's Edge Is Tiny in Crucial State". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  2. ↑ Benoit, Bertrand (2007-12-04). "Merkel in attack on US-style pay awards". Financial Times. p. 2.
  3. ↑ "Europe: Pay and punishment; Germany's state elections". The Economist. 2008-01-19. p. 34.
  4. ↑ Scally, Derek (2008-01-26). "German state polls apolitical test for Merkel". The Irish Times. p. 11.
  5. 1 2 "Europe: Hessen lesson; German state elections". The Economist. 2008-02-02. p. 42.
  6. ↑ Benoit, Bertrand (2007-12-28). "SPD to focus on minimum wage". Financial Times. p. 4.
  7. ↑ "Dossier: German State Elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony". Deutsche Welle . 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  8. ↑ "Merkel's CDU May Extend Reign in Lower Saxony State, Poll Shows". Bloomberg.com . 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  9. ↑ "Merkel's party may lose state polls: Report". The Peninsula . 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2009-05-15.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Quetteville, Harry de (2008-01-28). "Support for Merkel slumps in state poll". The Daily Telegraph. p. 14.
  11. ↑ Benoit, Bertrand (2008-01-29). "Merkel emerges with prize from Hesse poll". Financial Times. p. 2.
  12. 1 2 3 Scally, Derek (2008-01-28). "Setback for Merkel as support for CDU slips in state elections". The Irish Times. p. 11.
  13. ↑ Benoit, Bertrand (2008-01-28). "German elections offer scant cheer for big parties". Financial Times. p. 6.
  14. ↑ Benoit, Bertrand (2008-01-29). "Merkel relief over German poll result". Financial Times. p. 2.
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