1962 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

German state election January 2024 1962 North Rhine-Westphalia state election North Rhine-Westphalia parliamentary no 1958 North Rhine-Westphalia state election 1958 1966 North Rhine-Westphalia state election 1966 All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 8 July 1962 8,188,988 (73.4% 3.2 pp) 150x150px Franz Meyers Christian Democratic Union of Germany 104 seats, 50.5% 96 8 3,752,116 46.4% 4.1 pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F023752-0007, Heinz Kühn.jpg 200 150 110 15 50 Heinz Kühn Social Democratic Party of Germany 81 seats, 39.2% 90 9 3,497,179 43.3% 4.1 pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F060665-0013, Köln, FDP-Parteitag, Hoppe, Weyer.jpg 325 150 110 10 175 Willi Weyer Free Democratic Party (Germany) 15 seats, 7.1% 14 1 553,426 6.8% 0.3 pp 1962 North Rhine-Westphalia state election.svg 400px Results for the single-member constituencies. Government First Meyers cabinet CDU Government after election Second Meyers cabinet CDU–FDP The 1962 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 8 July 1962 to elect the 5th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a majority of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Franz Meyers. The CDU lost its majority with a decline of four percentage points to 46%, but remained the largest party by a small margin. The opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) saw a corresponding gain of four points and won 43%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) remained steady on 7%. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the FDP, and Franz Meyers continued as Minister-President. Electoral system The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation and had a term of four years. 150 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. Overhang seats were not compensated. Background In the previous election held on 6 July 1958, the CDU won a landslide victory and took an absolute majority of both votes and seats. The SPD also achieved a swing in its favour, while the FDP and other minors parties suffered losses. The outgoing SPD-led coalition lost its majority and was replaced by a majority government of the CDU led by Franz Meyers. Parties Name Ideology Leadcandidate 1958 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Franz Meyers 50.5% 104 200 Christian Democratic Union of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Heinz Kühn 39.2% 81 200 Social Democratic Party of Germany FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Willi Weyer 7.1% 15 200 Free Democratic Party (Germany) Results #F8F9FA 350 90 Social Democratic Party of Germany 14 Free Democratic Party (Germany) 96 Christian Democratic Union of Germany Con. List Total +/– Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 3752116 –4.05 76 20 96 –8 Social Democratic Party (SPD) 3497179 +4.07 74 16 90 +9 Free Democratic Party (FDP) 553426 –0.27 0 14 14 –1 German Peace Union (DFU) 164333 New 0 0 0 New Centre Party (ZENTRUM) 75291 –0.12 0 0 0 ±0 All-German Party (GDP) 34526 New 0 0 0 New German Community (DG) 4917 +0.06 0 0 0 ±0 Independent Workers' Party (UAP) 426 New 0 0 0 New Independents 353 ±0.00 – 0 0 ±0 150 50 200 ±0 106421 11156285 External links https://www.wahlrecht.de/landtage/nordrhein-westfalen.htm Electoral system of North Rhine-Westphalia 11 March 2023 15 May 2022 de Wahlrecht.de References Category:Elections in North Rhine-Westphalia Category:1962 elections in Germany Category:1960s in North Rhine-Westphalia Category:July 1962 in Europe Category:1962 in West Germany