1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

German state election January 2024 1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election North Rhine-Westphalia parliamentary no 1950 North Rhine-Westphalia state election 1950 1958 North Rhine-Westphalia state election 1958 All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 27 June 1954 7,068,392 (72.6% 0.3 pp) 160x160px Karl Arnold Christian Democratic Union of Germany 93 seats, 36.9% 90 3 2,855,988 41.3% 4.4 pp 160x160px Fritz Steinhoff Social Democratic Party of Germany 68 seats, 32.3% 76 8 2,387,718 34.5% 2.2 pp Friedrich Middelhauve Free Democratic Party (Germany) 26 seats, 12.1% 25 1 793,736 11.5% 0.6 pp 160x160px Rudolf Amelunxen Centre Party (Germany, 1945) 16 seats, 7.5% 9 7 278,863 4.0% 3.5 pp 1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election.svg 400px Results for the single-member constituencies. Government Second Arnold cabinet CDU–Centre Government after election Third Arnold cabinet CDU–FDP–Centre The 1954 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 27 June 1954 to elect the 3rd Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Centre Party led by Minister-President Karl Arnold. The CDU remained the largest party and improved its result to 41.3%, a swing of 4.4 percentage points. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) also improved slightly and finished on 34.5%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) remained steady on 11.5%, while the Centre Party fell below the 5% electoral threshold and only very narrowly retained its seats due to a quirk of the electoral law. The Communist Party (KPD) declined to 3.8% and lost representation; the League of Expellees (BHE) ran for the first time and fell short of entering the Landtag with 4.5%. Due to concerns that the Centre could fall below 5% and lose its seats, the CDU stood aside in constituency 62 (Essen Borbeck-Karnap) and endorsed the Centre candidate. Though the SPD won the constituency, the Centre were able to retain their seats thanks to an amendment to the electoral law which entitled parties which won a constituency, or won at least one-third of votes in any constituency, to proportional representation regardless of their statewide vote share. The Centre candidate in constituency 62 won 33.4%, just 26 votes above the quota. Despite the Centre retaining their seats, the outgoing government lost its majority. The CDU formed a new coalition with the FDP and Centre. 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 unless they win at least one constituency. In the 1954 election, parties which won at least one-third of votes in any constituency were also entitled to proportional representation. Overhang seats were not compensated. Background In the previous election held on 18 June 1950, the CDU remained the largest party with 37%, followed by the SPD on 32%. The FDP doubled its vote share to 12%, while the Centre declined to 7.5% and the KPD lost most of their support and finished with 5.5%. Alongside the election, the new state constitution was approved by a comfortable margin. The CDU chose not to renew the outgoing grand coalition and, after a brief period of minority government, formed a coalition with the Centre. Minister-President Karl Arnold continued in office. Parties Name Ideology Leadcandidate 1950 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Karl Arnold 36.9% 93 215 Christian Democratic Union of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Fritz Steinhoff 32.3% 68 215 Social Democratic Party of Germany FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Friedrich Middelhauve 12.1% 26 215 Free Democratic Party (Germany) ZENTRUM Centre PartyDeutsche Zentrumspartei Political Catholicism Rudolf Amelunxen 7.5% 16 215 #0047AB KPD Communist Party of GermanyKommunistische Partei Deutschlands Communism 5.5% 12 215 Communist Party of Germany Results #F8F9FA 350 76 Social Democratic Party of Germany 25 Free Democratic Party (Germany) 9 #0047AB 90 Christian Democratic Union of Germany Con. List Total +/– Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 2855988 +4.38 85 5 90 –3 Social Democratic Party (SPD) 2387718 +2.15 65 11 76 +8 Free Democratic Party (FDP) 793736 –0.61 0 25 25 –1 League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (BHE) 320676 New 0 0 0 New Centre Party (ZENTRUM) 278863 –3.49 0 9 9 –7 Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 264083 –1.65 0 0 0 –12 Alliance of Germans (BdD) 19515 New 0 0 0 New German Party (DP) 1898 –1.69 0 0 0 ±0 Independents 592 –0.10 – 0 0 ±0 150 50 200 –15 145323 9730072 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:1954 elections in Germany Category:1950s in North Rhine-Westphalia Category:June 1954 in Europe Category:1954 in West Germany