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The politics of North Rhine-Westphalia takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. The two main parties are the Centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the Centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
North Rhine-Westphalia uses mixed member proportional representation in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. [1] Every five years the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia secretly vote in a general election to elect least 181 members of the Landtag. [1] First-past-the-post voting determines 128 of the minimum 181 members of the Landtag. The remaining seats available to each party is determine by the party-list proportional representation. [1] only parties who win at least 5% of the votes cast may be represented in parliament. [1]
From 1966 to 2005, North Rhine-Westphalia was continuously governed by the Social Democrats or SPD-led governments. The 2005 state election granted the CDU an unexpected victory. Their top candidate Jürgen Rüttgers formed a coalition government with the FDP. With the result of the 2010 state elections, this government lost its majority in parliament. After many coalition talks, SPD and the Greens have agreed on a minority government.
The task of legislating is split between the Landtag and the Bundestag. [1] The Bundestag is responsible for all matters which directly affect Germany as a whole. States can only participate in this area through the Bundesrat. [1] The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for cultural matters, the education system, matters of internal security, i.e. the police, building supervision, health supervision and the media within North Rhine-Westphalia. [1] The Landtag may enact laws as long as the Bundestag does not make use of its right to legislate. [1]
The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the parliamentary parties and groups consisting of at least 7 members of parliament have the right to table legal proposals to the Landtag for deliberation. [1] In consultation with the Ältestenrat, the President of the Landtag places the draft bill on the plenary session's agenda. [1] Firstly, the minister responsible, or one of the members who is filing the bill, introduces it to the plenary session and justifies the reasons for introducing it. [1] During this First Reading, if the bill is politically sensitive, there is usually a fundamental debate about the law. [1] Normally, the debate ends with the draft bill being referred to the overall control of the appropriate expert committee and, if necessary, being referred to other committees as well, which may also become involved in the advisory process. [1]
This is when the detailed work begins for the experts in the individual parliamentary parties. [1] External expert witnesses are often brought in to evaluate the legal proposals. They provide statements during what are known as "hearings" and make their contribution to the process of arriving at a decision which is right and proper. [1] Preparations for the expert committees also take place in the parliamentary party working groups. [1] The weekly parliamentary party meetings are a forum for exchanging information between committee members and other Members of Parliament. [1]
The draft bill is examined down to the last detail in a small group, before appearing for a second time on the agenda of the plenary session, when it is debated afresh on the basis of the committee report. [1] Every Member of Parliament now has another opportunity to table amendments. [1] In this Second Reading, once members have decided which tabled amendments to accept, it is usual for the final vote concerning the law to take place. [1]
Constitutional changes and budgetary laws are debated in three Readings. [1] For other proposed legislation, a parliamentary party or a quarter of all members of parliament can apply for there to be a Third Reading and, if necessary, further committee consultations. [1]
The law passed by the Landtag is delivered to the Minister-President, who, together with the ministers involved, is required to sign it and announce it in the Law and Ordinance Gazette. [1] When the law comes into force is normally determined by the legislation itself, most usually the day after its announcement. [1]
Since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, the election results in the state have been:
Year | SPD | CDU | FDP | Grüne | AfD | Other | Government | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1947 | 32.0% | 37.6% | 6.0% | KPD 14.0% Zentrum 9.8% Other 0.8% | CDU–SPD–KPD–Z | |||
1950 | 32.3% | 36.9% | 12.1% | Zentrum 7.5% KPD 5.5% Other 5.7% | CDU–Z | |||
1954 | 34.5% | 41.3% | 11.5% | Zentrum 4.0% Other 8.7% | CDU–FDP–Z | |||
SPD–FDP–Z | ||||||||
1958 | 39.2% | 50.5% | 7.1% | 3.2% | CDU | |||
1962 | 43.3% | 46.4% | 6.9% | 3.4% | CDU–FDP | |||
1966 | 49.5% | 42.8% | 7.4% | 0.3% | SPD–FDP | |||
1970 | 46.1% | 46.3% | 5.5% | 2.1% | SPD–FDP | |||
1975 | 45.1% | 47.1% | 6.7% | 1.1% | SPD–FDP | |||
1980 | 48.4% | 43.2% | 4.98% | 3.0% | 0.4% | SPD | ||
1985 | 52.1% | 36.5% | 6.0% | 4.6% | 0.8% | SPD | ||
1990 | 50.0% | 36.7% | 5.8% | 5.05% | 2.5% | SPD | ||
1995 | 46.0% | 37.7% | 4.0% | 10.0% | 2.3% | SPD–Grüne | ||
2000 | 42.8% | 37.0% | 9.8% | 7.1% | 3.3% | SPD–Grüne | ||
2005 | 37.1% | 44.8% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 3.5% | CDU–FDP | ||
2010 | 34.5% | 34.6% | 6.7% | 12.1% | Linke 5.6% Other 5.5% | SPD–Grüne (minority) | ||
2012 | 39.1% | 26.3% | 8.6% | 11.3% | Pirates 7.8% Other 6.9% | SPD–Grüne | ||
2017 | 31.2% | 33.0% | 12.6% | 6.4% | 7.4% | 9.4% | CDU–FDP | |
2022 | 26.7% | 35.7% | 5.9% | 18.2% | 5.4% | 8.2% | CDU–Grüne |
Election year | Total seats | Seats won | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CDU | SPD | FDP | DZP | Grüne | AfD | Other | ||
1947 | 216 | 92 | 64 | 12 | 20 | 28 [lower-alpha 1] | ||
1950 | 215 | 93 | 68 | 26 | 16 | 12 [lower-alpha 2] | ||
1954 | 200 | 90 | 76 | 25 | 9 | |||
1958 | 200 | 104 | 81 | 15 | ||||
1962 | 200 | 96 | 90 | 14 | ||||
1966 | 200 | 86 | 99 | 15 | ||||
1970 | 200 | 95 | 94 | 11 | ||||
1975 | 200 | 95 | 91 | 14 | ||||
1980 | 201 | 95 | 106 | |||||
1985 | 227 | 88 | 125 | 14 | ||||
1990 | 237 | 89 | 122 | 14 | 12 | |||
1995 | 231 | 89 | 108 | 24 | ||||
2000 | 231 | 88 | 102 | 24 | 17 | |||
2005 | 187 | 89 | 74 | 12 | 12 | |||
2010 | 181 | 67 | 67 | 13 | 23 | 11 [lower-alpha 3] | ||
2012 | 237 | 67 | 99 | 22 | 29 | 20 [lower-alpha 4] | ||
2017 | 199 | 72 | 69 | 28 | 14 | 16 | ||
2022 | 195 | 76 | 56 | 12 | 39 | 12 |
Cologne Administrative District
Düsseldorf Administrative District
Münster Administrative District
Detmold Administrative District
Arnsberg Administrative District
No | Constituency | Member | 2021 | Voters | 2017 | 2013 | 2009 | 2005 | 2002 | 1998 | 1994 | 1990 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
86 | Aachen I | Oliver Krischer | Grüne | 176,306 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
87 | Aachen II | Claudia Moll | SPD | 226,420 | SPD | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
88 | Heinsberg | Wilfried Oellers | CDU | 192,346 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
89 | Düren | Thomas Rachel | CDU | 199,656 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
90 | Rhein-Erft-Kreis I | Georg Kippels | CDU | 249,035 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
91 | Euskirchen – Rhein-Erft-Kreis II | Detlef Seif | CDU | 249,198 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
92 | Cologne I | Sanae Abdi | SPD | 190,630 | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
93 | Cologne II | Sven Lehmann | Grüne | 242,483 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
94 | Cologne III | Rolf Mützenich | SPD | 204,539 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
95 | Bonn | Katrin Uhlig | Grüne | 230,215 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
96 | Rhein-Sieg-Kreis I | Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker | CDU | 238,627 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
97 | Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II | Norbert Röttgen | CDU | 216,063 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
98 | Oberbergischer Kreis | Carsten Brodesser | CDU | 206,640 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
99 | Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis | Hermann-Josef Tebroke | CDU | 217,193 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
100 | Leverkusen – Cologne IV | Erwin Rüddel | SPD | 209,102 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | Created for 2002 election | |||
101 | Wuppertal I | Helge Lindh | SPD | 202,528 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
102 | Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II | Ingo Schäfer | SPD | 220,204 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | |
103 | Mettmann I | Klaus Wiener | CDU | 203,030 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
104 | Mettmann II | Peter Beyer | CDU | 160,175 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
105 | Düsseldorf I | Thomas Jarzombek | CDU | 220,827 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
106 | Düsseldorf II | Andreas Rimkus | SPD | 190,102 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
107 | Neuss I | Hermann Gröhe | CDU | 213,250 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
108 | Mönchengladbach | Günter Krings | CDU | 185,185 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
109 | Krefeld I – Neuss II | Ansgar Heveling | CDU | 200,048 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | Created for 2002 election | |||
110 | Viersen | Martin Plum | CDU | 227,166 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
111 | Kleve | Erwin Rüddel | CDU | 224,463 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
112 | Wesel I | Daniel Rinkert | SPD | 206,270 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
113 | Krefeld II – Wesel II | Jan Dieren | SPD | 175,852 | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | Created for 2002 election | |||
114 | Duisburg I | Bärbel Bas | SPD | 163,394 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
115 | Duisburg II | Mahmut Özdemir | SPD | 155,265 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
116 | Oberhausen – Wesel III | Dirk Vöpel | SPD | 199,156 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
117 | Mülheim – Essen I | Sebastian Fiedler | SPD | 182,895 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
118 | Essen II | Dirk Heidenblut | SPD | 156,298 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
119 | Essen III | Matthias Hauer | CDU | 190,335 | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
120 | Recklinghausen I | Frank Schwabe | SPD | 165,193 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
121 | Recklinghausen II | Erwin Rüddel | SPD | 186,413 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
122 | Gelsenkirchen | Markus Töns | SPD | 168,496 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
123 | Steinfurt I – Borken I | Jens Spahn | CDU | 202,388 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | Created for 2002 election | |||
124 | Bottrop – Recklinghausen III | Michael Gerdes | SPD | 199,344 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
125 | Borken II | Anne König | CDU | 201,102 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
126 | Neuwied | Marc Henrichmann | CDU | 194,695 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
127 | Steinfurt III | Anja Karliczek | CDU | 195,513 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | |
128 | Münster | Maria Klein-Schmeink | Grüne | 233,953 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
129 | Warendorf | Henning Rehbaum | CDU | 208,754 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
130 | Gütersloh I | Ralph Brinkhaus | CDU | 234,177 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
131 | Bielefeld – Gütersloh II | Wiebke Esdar | SPD | 243,059 | SPD | SPD | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
132 | Herford – Minden-Lübbecke II | Stefan Schwartze | SPD | 226,894 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
133 | Minden-Lübbecke I | Achim Post | SPD | 201,888 | SPD | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
134 | Lippe I | Jürgen Berghahn | SPD | 224,415 | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
135 | Höxter – Gütersloh III – Lippe II | Christian Haase | CDU | 172,435 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
136 | Paderborn | Carsten Linnemann | CDU | 231,534 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
137 | Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I | Timo Schisanowski | SPD | 201,594 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
138 | Neuwied | Axel Echeverria | SPD | 175,283 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
139 | Bochum I | Axel Schäfer | SPD | 202,393 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
140 | Herne – Bochum II | Michelle Müntefering | SPD | 173,939 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
141 | Dortmund I | Jens Peick | SPD | 206,727 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
142 | Dortmund II | Sabine Poschmann | SPD | 199,317 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
143 | Unna I | Oliver Kaczmarek | SPD | 194,493 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
144 | Hamm – Unna II | Michael Thews | SPD | 231,226 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | |
145 | Soest | Hans-Jürgen Thies | CDU | 231,811 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
146 | Hochsauerlandkreis | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 200,496 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
147 | Siegen-Wittgenstein | Volkmar Klein | CDU | 207,672 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | |
148 | Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I | Florian Müller | CDU | 203,350 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | |
149 | Märkischer Kreis II | Paul Ziemiak | CDU | 195,816 | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD | SPD |
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a state (Land) in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. Apart from the city-states, it is also the most densely populated state in Germany. Covering an area of 34,084 km2 (13,160 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest German state by size.
The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns is Witten.
The Rhein-Erft-Kreis is a district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Neuss, district-free Cologne, Rhein-Sieg, Euskirchen, Düren.
The Rhein-Sieg-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Altenkirchen, Neuwied, Ahrweiler, Euskirchen, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, the urban district of Cologne. The federal city of Bonn is nearly completely surrounded by the district.
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of the Rhine and south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by forests, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over twenty artificial lakes. Wuppertal is the biggest town, while the southern part has economic and socio-cultural ties to Cologne. Wuppertal and the neighbouring cities of Remscheid and Solingen form the Bergisches Städtedreieck.
The County of Mark was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay south of Lippe river on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme and Lenne rivers.
The Oberbergischer Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ennepe-Ruhr, Märkischer Kreis, Olpe, Altenkirchen, Rhein-Sieg, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, and the urban districts Remscheid and Wuppertal.
The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the Cologne Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kreis Mettman, Oberbergischer Kreis and Rhein-Sieg, and the district-free cities Cologne, Leverkusen, Solingen and Remscheid.
Mettmann is a Kreis (district) in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring are the Ennepe-Ruhr, Rhein-Kreis Neuss, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis and the district-free cities Cologne, Leverkusen, Wuppertal, Solingen, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Mülheim, Essen. It is the most densely populated rural district in Germany; it borders Düsseldorf Airport in the northwestern district borders, on the city limits of Ratingen, and is also near Cologne Bonn Airport. It was named after Mettmann, its district seat.
The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers most of the Ruhr area, as well as neighbouring parts of the Lower Rhine region, including Düsseldorf and thus large parts of the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation. It was founded on 1 January 1980, and is Europe’s largest body of such kind, covering an area of some 5,000 km2 (1,900 sq mi) with more than 7.8 million inhabitants, spanning as far as Dorsten in the north, Dortmund in the east, Langenfeld in the south, and Mönchengladbach and the Dutch border in the west.
The Cologne Bonn Region is a metropolitan area in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, covering the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Leverkusen, as well as the districts of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Rhein-Erft-Kreis and Rhein-Sieg-Kreis. The region covers an area of 3,839 km2 with 3.13 million inhabitants. The city centres of Cologne and Bonn are 24 kilometres apart as the crow flies. At the outer city limits, there are only 8 kilometres between Cologne-Libur and Bonn-Geislar.
Horrem station is a station in the Kerpen district of Horrem in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a railway junction of the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway and the Erft Railway. The triangular station of Horrem is served by regional services and by S-Bahn trains of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn. Long-distance trains run through on the high-speed line without stopping. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.
Guido van den Berg was a German politician for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). At the time of his death, he had been serving as a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2012, and as deputy district administrator of Rhein-Erft-Kreis since 2014. A member of the Rhein-Erft-Kreis district council and Bedburg's council (1999–2014), van den Berg was a member of the SPD from 1992 and held numerous positions in the party at district level.
Rhein-Erft-Kreis I is an electoral constituency represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 90. It is located in western North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising most of the Rhein-Erft-Kreis district.
Oberbergischer Kreis is an electoral constituency represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 98. It is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the Oberbergischer Kreis district.
Nadine Heselhaus is a German politician (SPD) and Member of the German Bundestag since 2021.
Roger Friedrich Nikolaus Beckamp is a German politician from the AfD. He has been a Member of the German Bundestag from North Rhine-Westphalia since 2021.