1983 Hessian state election

German state election 1983 Hessian state election Hesse parliamentary no 1982 Hessian state election 1982 1987 Hessian state election 1987 All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 25 September 1983 3,404,656 (83.5% 2.8pp) -Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F055060-0007A, Köln, SPD-Parteitag, Börner-2.jpg 130 150 110 10 15 Holger Börner Social Democratic Party of Germany 49 seats, 42.8% 51 2 1,559,725 46.2% 3.4pp KAS-Wallmann, Walter-Bild-5166-1 (cropped).jpg 130 150 110 0 10 Walter Wallmann Christian Democratic Union of Germany 52 seats, 45.6% 44 8 1,329,292 39.4% 6.2pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049586-0009, Frankfurt, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry (cropped).jpg 120 150 110 0 10 Ekkehard Gries Free Democratic Party (Germany) 0 seats, 3.1% 8 8 256,801 7.6% 4.5pp Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling Alliance 90/The Greens 9 seats, 8.0% 7 2 200,415 5.9% 2.1pp 1983 Hessian state election.svg 250px Results for the single-member constituencies. Government Second Börner cabinet SPD Government after election Third Börner cabinet SPD The 1983 Hessian state election was held on 25 September 1983 to elect the 11th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a caretaker cabinet of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Holger Börner. The election was called after the Landtag's failure to elect a government after the 1982 election. The snap election ended a prolonged political gridlock by making the SPD the largest party ahead of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), though short of a majority. Following a historic 283-day cabinet formation process, Minister-President Holger Börner broke campaign promises and secured a confidence agreement with the Greens to form a minority government in June 1984. This arrangement ultimately evolved in October 1985 into Germany's first official red–green coalition.Praprotnik Katrin Thürk Maria Krauss Svenja Duration of coalition formation in the German states: Inertia and familiarity in a multilevel setting Parliamentary Affairs 29 April 2025 78 2 304–328 10.1093/pa/gsae014 Electoral system The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 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 1982 Hessian state election The previous election, held on 26 September 1982, delivered an inconclusive result. Though the CDU and SPD remained first and second, respectively, with only slight losses, the FDP fell to 3% and lost their seats in the Landtag for the first time. At the same time, the new ecologist Green party entered with 8% and held the balance of power. The CDU offered to form a grand coalition, but Minister-President Börner refused and decided to continue his cabinet as a minority government, despite being the second largest party with no supporting partners. When the government's budget was defeated, Börner was forced to call early elections just a year after the last. Parties thumb|Poster for a rally in Frankfurt am Main held prior to the 1983 Hessian state elections, addressed by Kohl and Wallmann The table below lists parties represented in the 10th Landtag of Hesse. Name Ideology Leadcandidate 1982 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Walter Wallmann 45.6% 52 110 Christian Democratic Union of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Holger Börner 42.8% 49 110 Social Democratic Party of Germany GRÜNE The GreensDie Grünen Green politics Dirk Treber & Gertrud Schilling 8.0% 9 110 Alliance 90/The Greens Election result Party Votes % Swing Seats Con. List Total +/- Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1,559,725 46.23 3.41 42 9 51 2 Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1,329,292 39.40 6.22 13 31 44 8 Free Democratic Party (FDP) 256,802 7.61 4.53 0 8 8 8 The Greens (GRÜNE) 200,415 5.94 2.09 0 7 7 2 Liberal Democrats (LD) 13,553 0.40 New 0 0 0 New German Communist Party (DKP) 8,697 0.26 0.11 0 0 0 0 Democratic Socialists (DS) 3,221 0.10 New 0 0 0 New European Labour Party (EAP) 1,224 0.04 0.03 0 0 0 0 Foreigner Repatriation Action (AAR) 890 0.03 New 0 0 0 New Federation of Socialist Workers (BSA) 35 0.00 New 0 0 0 New Total 3,373,853 100.00 55 55 110 0 Invalid 30,803 0.90 Turnout 3,404,656 83.54 2.83 Registered voters 4,075,611 External links https://starweb.hessen.de/cache/stanzwahlergebnis/1983wahlergebnis.pdf Final Results for the Landtag election of 25 September 1983 29 September 1983 14 September 2023 de Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/xsrec/current/453/sn/edb?q=YToxOntzOjExOiJzYWNoYmVncmlmZiI7czozOToiU296aWFsZGVtb2tyYXRpc2NoZSBQYXJ0ZWkgRGV1dHNjaGxhbmRzIjt9 Elections to the Hessian Landtag, September 25, 1983 14 September 2023 de Hessian Regional History Information System References Notes Category:Elections in Hesse Category:September 1983 in Europe Category:1983 in West Germany Category:1980s in Hesse Category:1983 elections in Germany