1983 West German federal election

none September 2022 1983 West German federal election West Germany parliamentary no 1980 West German federal election 1980 yes 1983 03 06 1987 West German federal election 1987 List of members of the 9th Bundestag List of members of the 10th Bundestag All 498 seats in the BundestagAs well as the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin, elected by the West Berlin Legislature. 250 44,088,935 2.0% 39,279,529 (89.1%) 0.5 pp KAS-Kohl, Helmut-Bild-14701-1.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Helmut Kohl CDU/CSU 44.5%, 226 seats 244As well as 11 non-voting delegates for West Berlin. 18 18,998,545 48.8% 4.3 pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079283-0006, Münster, SPD-Parteitag, Vogel (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Hans-Jochen Vogel Social Democratic Party of Germany 42.9%, 218 seats 193As well as 9 non-voting delegates for West Berlin. 25 14,865,807 38.2% 4.7 pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F060666-0035, Köln, FDP-Parteitag, Genscher (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Hans-Dietrich Genscher Free Democratic Party (Germany) 10.6%, 53 seats 34As well as 1 non-voting delegate for West Berlin. 19 2,706,942 6.9% 3.7 pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F065187-0022, Bonn, Pressekonferenz der Grünen, Bundestagswahl (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Petra Kelly Alliance 90/The Greens 1.5%, 0 seats 27As well as 1 non-voting delegate for West Berlin. 27 2,167,431 5.6% 4.1 pp 1983 West German federal election.svg 325px The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours. Government First Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU-FDP Government after election Second Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU-FDP A federal election was held in West Germany on 6 March 1983 to elect the members of the 10th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor.Kaase Max 1983 The West German general election of 6 March 1983 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0261379483900598 Electoral Studies 2 2 158–166 10.1016/0261-3794(83)90059-8 0261-3794 subscription Issues and campaign The SPD/FDP coalition under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was returned to power in the 1980 West German federal election. The coalition parties grew more and more apart over economic policies. Schmidt asked for and won a motion of no confidence on 5 February 1982. The FDP cabinet ministers resigned on 17 September 1982 and the SPD formed a minority government. On 1 October, Schmidt and the SPD government were dismissed from office by a constructive vote of no confidence by the votes of the CDU/CSU Union parties and a majority of the FDP deputies in the Bundestag. The Leader of the Christian Democratic Union and Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag Helmut Kohl succeeded Schmidt. The new coalition had a majority in the Bundestag but early elections were arranged to legitimize it. Neither the Bundestag itself nor the Chancellor has a right to dissolve the Bundestag, so Kohl did this by deliberately losing a vote of no confidence on 17 December 1982. Federal President Karl Carstens then dissolved the Bundestag and held new elections. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of the dissolution. The FDP was split by its change of coalition partners. The party leadership under Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Otto Graf Lambsdorff drove the new policy, but they were rejected by a minority under Gerhart Baum, Günter Verheugen and Ingrid Matthäus-Maier. The FDP was defeated in the 1982 Hessian state election on 26 September 1982, losing half its voters by gaining only 3.1 percent of the vote and failing to enter the state parliament thanks to an SPD campaign against the FDP's "betrayal in Bonn". The FDP was defeated again and lost all of its seats in the 1982 Bavarian state election on 10 October 1982. Helmut Schmidt renounced his chancellor candidacy and was replaced by former Federal Minister of Justice Hans-Jochen Vogel. The SPD encountered difficulties because of the emergence of the Greens. A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision, something the SPD was deeply split on. Results Party-list Constituency Elected West Berlin Total +/– File:Bundestag 1983.svg Social Democratic Party 14865807 125 15686033 68 193 9 202 –26 Christian Democratic Union 14857680 55 15943460 136 191 11 202 +17 Christian Social Union 4140865 9 4318800 44 53 0 53 +1 Free Democratic Party 2706942 34 1087918 0 34 1 35 –19 The Greens 2167431 27 1609855 0 27 1 28 +28 National Democratic Party 91095 0 57112 0 0 0 0 0 German Communist Party 64986 0 96143 0 0 0 0 0 European Workers' Party 14966 0 7491 0 0 0 0 0 #003366 Ecological Democratic Party 11028 0 3341 0 0 0 0 New Christian Bavarian People's Party 10994 0 2068 0 0 0 0 0 Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists 3431 0 0 0 0 New Independent Social Democrats 3333 0 450 0 0 0 0 New #EB001F League of West German Communists 2129 0 686 0 0 0 0 New Independents and voter groups 31996 0 0 0 0 0 338841 434176 +1 44088935 44088935 Bundeswahlleiter thumbnail|320px|Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black Results by state Constituency seats StateTotalseatsSeats wonCDUSPDCSUBaden-Württemberg37361Bavaria45144Bremen33Hamburg77Hesse22175Lower Saxony312110North Rhine-Westphalia713932Rhineland-Palatinate16115Saarland532Schleswig-Holstein1192Total2481366844 List seats StateTotalseatsSeats wonSPDCDUFDPGrüneCSUBaden-Württemberg3722375Bavaria4425649Bremen22Hamburg651Hesse2615443Lower Saxony3216844North Rhine-Westphalia753126108Rhineland-Palatinate157521Saarland321Schleswig-Holstein107111Total2501255534279 Post-election The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, gaining 55.7% of the vote and 55.8% of the seats, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the Bundestag, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960. Notes References Sources The Federal Returning Officer Psephos Category:Federal elections in Germany Category:1983 elections in Germany Category:Helmut Kohl Category:March 1983 in Europe Category:1983 in West Germany