1980 North Rhine-Westphalia state election explained

Election Name:1980 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Country:North Rhine-Westphalia
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Previous Year:1975
Next Election:1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
Next Year:1985
Seats For Election:All 201 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
Majority Seats:101
Election Date:11 May 1980
Turnout:9,874,427 (80.0% 6.1pp)
Candidate1:Johannes Rau
Party1:Social Democratic Party of Germany
Last Election1:91 seats, 45.1%
Seats1:106
Seat Change1: 15
Popular Vote1:4,756,103
Percentage1:48.4%
Swing1: 3.3pp
Candidate2:Kurt Biedenkopf
Party2:Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Last Election2:95 seats, 47.1%
Seats2:95
Seat Change2: 0
Popular Vote2:4,240,885
Percentage2:43.2%
Swing2: 3.9pp
Candidate3:Liselotte Funcke
Party3:Free Democratic Party (Germany)
Last Election3:14 seats, 6.7%
Seats3:0
Seat Change3: 14
Popular Vote3:489,225
Percentage3:4.98%
Swing3: 1.7pp
Map Size:400px
Government
Before Election:First Rau cabinet
Before Party:SPDFDP
Posttitle:Government after election
After Election:Second Rau cabinet
After Party: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

See 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.

NameIdeologyLead
candidate
1975 result
Votes (%)Seats
bgcolor= CDUChristian Democratic Union of Germany
Christian democracyKurt Biedenkopf47.1%
bgcolor= SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
Social democracyJohannes Rau45.1%
bgcolor= FDPFree Democratic Party
Classical liberalismLiselotte Funcke6.7%

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Minutes of the Landtag session of 4 June 1980. 4 June 1980. de. Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.