2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

The 2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 22 May 2005 to elect the 14th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Peer Steinbrück.

2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

← 2000 22 May 2005 2010 →

All 187 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 6 overhang and leveling seats
94 seats needed for a majority
Turnout8,333,363 (63.0% Increase 6.3pp)
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Jürgen Rüttgers Peer Steinbrück
Party CDU SPD
Last election 88 seats, 37.0% 102 seats, 42.8%
Seats won 89 74
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 28
Popular vote 3,696,506 3,058,988
Percentage 44.8% 37.1%
Swing Increase 7.8pp Decrease 5.7pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Bärbel Höhn Ingo Wolf
Party Greens FDP
Last election 17 seats, 7.1% 24 seats, 9.8%
Seats won 12 12
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 12
Popular vote 509,293 508,266
Percentage 6.2% 6.2%
Swing Decrease 0.9pp Decrease 3.6pp

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Steinbrück cabinet
SPDGreen

Government after election

Rüttgers cabinet
CDUFDP

The result was a landslide defeat for the SPD, as the party suffered its worst result in 50 years at 37% and was ousted from government for the first time since 1966. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) under Jürgen Rüttgers won a commanding victory with 45% of votes and came just short of a majority in the Landtag. The Greens also suffered losses, as did the Free Democratic Party (FDP), with both finishing on 6.2%.[1] The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the FDP, and Rüttgers was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on 22 June.

The result had important ramifications outside North Rhine-Westphalia: such a crushing defeat for the SPD in a stronghold state was viewed as an indication of unpopularity of the federal government led by Gerhard Schröder. On the evening of the election, Schröder announced he would seek an early federal election.[a]

Electoral system

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The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 128 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 53 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. The minimum size of the Landtag was 181 members, but if overhang seats were present, proportional leveling seats were added to ensure proportionality. Since the previous election in 2000, an electoral reform had been passed which reduced the number of single-member constituencies by 23 and the overall size of the Landtag by 20 members. 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

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In the previous election held on 14 May 2000, the SPD suffered losses and slid to 43% of the vote, while the CDU recorded another poor performance with 37%. The Greens also declined to 7% while the FDP recovered to 10% and re-entered the Landtag. The outgoing SPD–Green government retained a reduced majority and was renewed for a second term.

In November 2002, Minister-President Wolfgang Clement resigned to join the second Schröder cabinet as minister for economics and labour. He was succeeded by state finance minister Peer Steinbrück, who continued the coalition with the Greens.

Parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the 13th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate
2000 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Peer Steinbrück 42.8%
102 / 231
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Jürgen Rüttgers 37.0%
88 / 231
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Ingo Wolf 9.8%
24 / 231
GRÜNE Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Green politics Bärbel Höhn 7.1%
17 / 231

A total of 22 parties and lists ran in the election, as did 17 independent candidates. A total of 1,343 candidates stood for election, of which 273 (20.3%) were women. Only the four parliamentary parties as well as The Republicans and Labour and Social Justice ran candidates in all 128 constituencies. Due to the single-vote system, the number of constituencies in which each party stood determined how much of the electorate they were able to reach, and thus how many votes they could gather.

Campaign

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Peer Steinbrück, who had been Minister-President for two and a half years by the time of the election, stood as lead candidate for the SPD. As in 2000, the CDU nominated state chairman Jürgen Rüttgers. Environment minister Bärbel Höhn led the Greens for a fourth time, and the FDP put forward Landtag group leader Ingo Wolf. The SPD and Greens aimed to continue their coalition, while the CDU and FDP sought to oust them with a coalition of their own. Polls showed the two blocs neck and neck at the start of the year, but the CDU and FDP established a strong lead by the start of March. Minister-President Peer Steinbrück remained popular and led Rüttgers in terms of personal polling; the SPD relied heavily on his personal image and placed less emphasis on the party brand, which was dragged down by federal issues The SPD also faced a challenge from the left in the form of WASG, a party founded by trade unionists and disgruntled SPD members opposed to the federal government's Agenda 2010. Important topics in the campaign were coal mining subsidies, wind energy, education, and the high unemployment rate.

Opinion polling

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
SPD CDU FDP Grüne WASG Others Lead
2005 state election 22 May 2005 37.1 44.8 6.2 6.2 2.2 3.5 7.7
Forsa 18 May 2005 1,326 36 43 7 7 7 7
Infratest dimap 12–13 May 2005 1,000 37 43 7.5 7.5 5 6
Infas 10–12 May 2005 750 36 43 8 7 6 7
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 9–12 May 2005 1,062 35 44 7 9 5 9
Infratest dimap 10–11 May 2005 1,000 37 43 7 8 2 3 6
Forsa 26 Apr–6 May 2005 1,017 34 45 7 7 2 5 11
Infratest dimap 2–3 May 2005 1,010 35 45 7 8 5 10
Emnid 3 May 2005 ? 34 44 7 9 2 4 10
Forsa 25–29 Apr 2005 1,109 35 45 7 7 2 4 10
Infratest dimap 26–28 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 7 9 5 11
Emnid 26 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 6 10 5 11
Emnid 29 Mar–18 Apr 2005 1,053 35 45 6 9 5 10
Infratest dimap 12–14 Apr 2005 1,000 35 45 7 8 5 10
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 5–7 Apr 2005 1,039 36 46 6 8 4 10
Infratest dimap 4–5 Apr 2005 1,000 34 45 7 9 5 11
Emnid 24 Mar–3 Apr 2005 1,063 35 45 7 9 4 10
Forsa 30 Mar–5 Apr 2005 1,009 36 45 5 8 5 9
Infratest dimap 15–17 Mar 2005 1,000 35 42 7 10 1 5 7
Emnid 2–14 Mar 2005 1,058 35 43 7 10 5 8
Infratest dimap 1–3 Mar 2005 1,000 35 43 7 9 6 8
Forsa 21 Feb–1 Mar 2005 1,012 36 42 7 9 6 6
Infratest dimap 9–10 Feb 2005 1,000 37 39 7 9 8 2
Forsa 10–12 Jan 2005 1,302 39 39 7 9 6 Tie
Infratest dimap 4–6 Jan 2005 1,010 38 40 7 10 5 2
Emnid 3 Dec 2004 1,000 33 40 8 13 6 7
Forsa 2 Dec 2004 ? 36 39 8 11 6 3
Infratest dimap 29 Oct–4 Nov 2004 1,075 36 40 8 11 5 4
Infratest dimap 13–15 Sep 2004 1,000 30 43 7 13 7 13
Emnid 8–9 Sep 2004 1,000 30 43 7 11 9 13
Infratest dimap 24–26 Aug 2004 1,000 32 42 7 12 3 4 10
Emnid 9 Aug 2004 1,000 28 44 8 12 8 16
Psephos 31 May–4 Jun 2004 1,000 33 47 6 10 4 14
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 24 Apr 2004 ? 29 49 5 12 5 20
Psephos 18 Apr 2004 1,003 34 47 7 8 4 13
dimap 2–8 Mar 2004 1,007 32 48 6 10 4 16
dimap 20–25 Jan 2004 1,001 32 48 8 9 3 16
dimap 19 Jan 2004 ? 33 48 7 8 4 15
Psephos 2 Nov 2003 ? 31 47 7 10 5 16
dimap 30 Sep–2 Oct 2003 1,050 34 47 6 10 3 13
Infratest dimap 1 Jul 2003 1,000 33 47 7 10 3 14
Emnid 13 Jun 2003 ? 36 45 6 10 3 9
Forsa 26–30 May 2003 1,508 37 45 6 9 3 8
Infratest dimap 26–27 May 2003 1,000 33 45 8 11 3 12
dimap 19 May 2003 1,005 32 48 7 9 4 16
dimap 11–14 Mar 2003 1,000 33 48 6 10 3 15
Psephos 9 Feb 2003 1,005 33 46 8 10 3 7
Emnid 9–14 Jan 2003 1,000 36 45 6 9 4 9
Psephos 10 Nov 2002 ? 39 43 8 7 3 4
Psephos 15 Apr 2002 ? 36 38 12 8 6 2
Psephos 20 Jan 2002 ? 39 41 10 6 4 2
Psephos 30 Sep 2001 ? 43 38 10 6 3 5
Psephos 13 May 2001 ? 44 35 11 7 3 9
Psephos 14 Jan 2001 ? 41 38 9 8 4 3
2000 state election 14 May 2000 42.8 37.0 9.8 7.1 3.3 5.8

Results

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74
12
12
89
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+/–
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)3,696,50644.84+7.8789089+1
Social Democratic Party (SPD)3,058,98837.11–5.73393574–28
Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE)509,2936.18–0.8801212–5
Free Democratic Party (FDP)508,2666.17–3.6701212–12
Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (WASG)181,9882.21New000New
National Democratic Party (NPD)73,9690.90+0.87000±0
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)72,9890.89–0.20000±0
The Republicans (REP)67,2200.82–0.32000±0
The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE)18,3350.22New000New
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)15,7510.19+0.16000±0
Independent Candidates North Rhine-Westphalia (Unabh. Bürger)6,9500.08–0.22000±0
Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (BüSo)6,8560.08+0.05000±0
Party of Bible-abiding Christians (PBC)6,3610.08+0.02000±0
Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei)6,1680.07+0.03000±0
Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE)4,2910.05±0.00000±0
Die PARTEI (PARTEI)1,3380.02New000New
Centre Party (ZENTRUM)1,2610.02New000New
New Start Middle-class Party (AMP)9400.01New000New
Independent Workers' Party (UAP)5230.01+0.01000±0
Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Offensive D)2130.00New000New
Independent Candidates for Direct Democracy (Unabh. Kandidaten)2040.00New000New
Ecological Left–Anti-Racist List (ÖkoLinX-ARL)1840.00±0.00000±0
Liberal Democrats1000.00New000New
League for All-Germany (BGD)560.00±0.00000±0
Independents5,2640.06–0.0300±0
Total8,244,014100.0012859187–44
Valid votes8,244,01498.93
Invalid/blank votes89,3491.07
Total votes8,333,363100.00
Registered voters/turnout13,230,36662.99
Source: [1] [2]

Aftermath

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Immediate coverage of the election was overwhelmed by its impact on federal politics: only half an hour after the polls closed, first SPD chairman Franz Müntefering and then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced the government's intention to seek an early dissolution of the Bundestag. A federal election had originally not been due until September of 2006, but Schröder and Müntefering felt the need for a renewed mandate for the government's agenda in light of a string of defeats on the state level, of which North Rhine-Westphalia was the most significant as it was a longtime stronghold of the SPD. The result also marked the defeat of the last incumbent SPD-Green state government.[1] This led to a knock-on effect as Schröder quickly brought and deliberately lost a motion of confidence in the Bundestag and subsequently dissolved it. With the election looming, parties were forced to accelerate the selection and announcement of candidates; Angela Merkel was announced as the CDU/CSU's Chancellor candidate just a week after the election in North Rhine-Westphalia.[2] These developments greatly overshadowed the state election and its local consequences, which receded into the background of coverage.

Polling conducted by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen reported that the poor economic situation, unpopular federal government, and weak perception of the state government were the most decisive factors in the outcome. On the key issue of unemployment, voters trusted the CDU much more than the SPD.[1]

Government formation

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The CDU and FDP quickly began negotiations for a coalition government. The former were led by Jürgen Rüttgers, while the FDP were led by lead candidate Ingo Wolf and state chairman Andreas Pinkwart. The draft coalition agreement was presented less than a month after the election on 17 June, and quickly ratified almost unanimously by both parties.

The new Landtag was inaugurated on 8 June, and Regina van Dinther was elected

President. Jürgen Rüttgers was elected Minister-President two weeks later on the 22nd, winning 99 votes in favour to 87 against. His cabinet took office on 24 June.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Since there is no way the government may call for new elections, he asked the Bundestag for a vote of confidence and urged his party colleges to defeat the resolution in order for the president of Germany to call for new elections.
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  • "Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 15 May 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.

References

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