2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election

German state election 2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election Schleswig-Holstein parliamentary no 2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election 2009 2017 Schleswig-Holstein state election 2017 All 69 seats in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein 35 6 May 2012 1,328,452 (60.2%) 13.4% 150x150px Jost de Jager Christian Democratic Union of Germany 34 seats, 31.5% 22 12 408,637 30.8% 0.7% 150x150px Torsten Albig Social Democratic Party of Germany 25 seats, 25.4% 22 3 404,048 30.4% 5.0% 150x150px Robert Habeck Alliance 90/The Greens 12 seats, 12.4% 10 2 174,953 13.2% 0.8% 150x150px Wolfgang Kubicki Free Democratic Party (Germany) 14 seats, 14.9% 6 8 108,953 8.2% 6.7% 150x150px Torge Schmidt Pirate Party Germany 0 seats, 1.8% 6 6 108,902 8.2% 6.4% 150x150px Anke Spoorendonk South Schleswig Voter Federation 4 seats, 4.3% 3 1 61,025 4.6% 0.3% 2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election.svg 350px Results for the single-member constituencies Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen Christian Democratic Union of Germany Torsten Albig Social Democratic Party of Germany thumb|right|Results for the direct mandates The 2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 6 May 2012 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein.Schleswig-Holstein wählt im Mai 2012 Welt German 15 March 2011 https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article12836784/Schleswig-Holstein-waehlt-im-Mai-2012.html 12 January 2012http://schleswig-holstein.de/LWL/DE/Landtagswahl/Landtagswahl_node.html Landtagswahl 2012 German Schleswig-Holstein.de 12 January 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120102131801/http://www.schleswig-holstein.de/LWL/DE/Landtagswahl/Landtagswahl_node.html 2 January 2012 The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union and Free Democratic Party (FDP) was defeated.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germanys-northernmost-state-elects-new-legislature-in-test-for-chancellor-merkels-coalition/2012/05/06/gIQApZ3u4T_story.html Associated Press The Washington Post Close race in German state elections with center-right poised to lose majority 6 May 2012 7 May 2012June 2021 medicmedic Though the CDU remained the largest party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) negotiated a coalition with The Greens and the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). This was dubbed the "Danish traffic light" or "Namibia coalition". SPD leader Torsten Albig was subsequently elected Minister-President by the Landtag. Background After the 2009 state election, the CDU formed a coalition with the FDP under Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen. Due to ambiguity and complications with the electoral law, the election result was the subject of a legal challenge by the Greens, SSW, and The Left. In August 2010, the state Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral law was unconstitutional. The court mandated that a new electoral law be legislated within six months and that new elections be held by September 2012, two years ahead of schedule. Minister-President Carstensen had stated his intention to retire at the next election. The CDU therefore needed to pick a candidate to succeed him as Minister-President if they won the election. At a party conference in May 2011, they chose Christian von Boetticher, incumbent deputy Minister-President and leader of the CDU parliamentary group. In August, however, von Boetticher resigned these positions after it was revealed that he had been involved in an intimate relationship with a 16-year-old girl as recently as 2010. Two days later, the CDU announced that Minister of Science, Economic Affairs and Transport Jost de Jager had been nominated as their new candidate for Minister-President. Parties The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. Name Ideology Leader(s) 2009 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Jost de Jager 31.5% 34 95 Christian Democratic Union of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Torsten Albig 25.4% 25 95 Social Democratic Party of Germany FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Wolfgang Kubicki 14.9% 14 95 Free Democratic Party (Germany) Grüne Alliance 90/The GreensBündnis 90/Die Grünen Green politics Robert Habeck 12.4% 12 95 Alliance 90/The Greens Linke The LeftDie Linke Democratic socialism Antje Jansen 6.0% 6 95 The Left (Germany) SSW South Schleswig Voters' AssociationSüdschleswigscher Wählerverband Danish and Frisian minority interests Anke Spoorendonk 4.3% 4 95 South Schleswig Voters' Association Opinion polling Party polling Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize CDU SPD FDP Grüne Linke SSW Piraten Others Lead 2012 state election 6 May 2012 – 30.8 30.4 8.2 13.2 2.3 4.6 8.2 2.4 0.4 GMS 28 Apr–1 May 2012 1,002 32 33 6 12 2 4 8 3 1 Infratest dimap 24–26 Apr 2012 1,001 30 32 6 13 2.5 4.5 9 3 2 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 23–26 Apr 2012 1,003 31 31 7 12.5 2.5 4 9 3 Tie Infratest dimap 12–17 Apr 2012 1,000 31 32 5 13 2 4 10 3 1 Infratest dimap 10–11 Apr 2012 1,000 32 32 4 12 3 4 11 2 Tie Infratest dimap 22–27 Mar 2012 1,000 34 32 4 15 4 4 5 2 2 dimap 9–13 Mar 2012 1,003 34 33 4 15 3 4 5 ? 1 Forsa March 2012 ? 35 35 2 13 3 4 5 ? Tie Infratest dimap 13–16 Feb 2012 1,000 33 33 3 16 3 3 5 4 Tie Emnid 17–19 Jan 2012 1,000 34 32 4 15 3 3 7 2 2 Forsa 15–17 Nov 2011 1,002 33 32 3 17 3 3 6 3 1 Infratest dimap 26–27 Sep 2011 1,000 30 34 3 21 2 3 4 3 4 Forsa 15 Aug 2011 752 30 32 4 19 4 4 – 7 2 Infratest dimap 13–16 May 2011 1,000 33 31 4 22 2 4 1 3 2 Forsa 31 Aug–1 Sep 2010 751 31 31 7 18 5 5 – 3 Tie Infratest dimap 30–31 Aug 2010 1,001 32 32 5 19 4 4 – 4 Tie IfM Leipzig 29–31 Mar 2010 823 31 22 12 20 6 4 – 5 9 2009 state election 27 September 2009 – 31.5 25.4 14.9 12.4 6.0 4.3 1.8 3.6 6.1 Minister-President polling Polling firm Fieldwork date 75px 75px Lead Jost de JagerCDU Torsten AlbigSPD Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 27 Apr 2012 29 44 15 Infratest dimap 26 Apr 2012 27 49 22 Infratest dimap 19 Apr 2012 32 56 24 Infratest dimap 12 Apr 2012 31 53 22 Infratest dimap 29 Mar 2012 33 49 26 Infratest dimap 17 Feb 2012 29 45 16 Infratest dimap 28 Sep 2011 27 45 18 Forsa 17 Aug 2011 30 34 4 Election result thumb|From left to right: Angela Merkel, Jost de Jager, and Susanne Herold at a campaign event in Flensburg. The SPD recovered some of the voteshare it had lost in the 2009 election while the CDU stagnated. This led to a very close result, with both parties winning 22 seats, but the CDU leading with 30.8% of the vote to the SPD's 30.4%. On paper, the FDP was the biggest loser of the election, almost halving its voteshare from its impressive showing in 2009. However, compared to the national trend, the Schleswig-Holstein result was an unexpected success; and until April, state polling had predicted that the FDP would lose all its seats. The Greens marginally improved their performance compared to 2009. The Left fared poorly, losing all its seats after only 3 years in the Landtag. The Pirate Party won 8.2%, entering the Landtag for the first time. This came after successes in the 2011 Berlin state election and 2012 Saarland state election in the preceding months. The SSW achieved its best result since 1950 with 4.6%. Summary of the 6 May 2012 election results for the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein |- | colspan=8| center|350px |- ! colspan="2" | Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % |- | bgcolor=Christian Democratic Union of Germany| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | align=right| 408,637 | align=right| 30.8 | align=right| 0.7 | align=right| 22 | align=right| 12 | align=right| 31.9 |- | bgcolor=Social Democratic Party of Germany| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | align=right| 404,048 | align=right| 30.4 | align=right| 5.0 | align=right| 22 | align=right| 3 | align=right| 31.9 |- | bgcolor=Alliance 90/The Greens| | align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | align=right| 174,953 | align=right| 13.2 | align=right| 0.8 | align=right| 10 | align=right| 2 | align=right| 14.5 |- | bgcolor=Free Democratic Party (Germany)| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | align=right| 108,953 | align=right| 8.2 | align=right| 6.7 | align=right| 6 | align=right| 8 | align=right| 8.7 |- | bgcolor=Pirate Party Germany| | align=left | Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) | align=right| 108,902 | align=right| 8.2 | align=right| 6.4 | align=right| 6 | align=right| 6 | align=right| 8.7 |- | bgcolor=South Schleswig Voters' Association| | align=left | South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW) | align=right| 61,025 | align=right| 4.6 | align=right| 0.3 | align=right| 3 | align=right| 1 | align=right| 4.3 |- ! colspan=8| |- | bgcolor=The Left (Germany)| | align=left | The Left (Linke) | align=right| 29,900 | align=right| 2.3 | align=right| 3.7 | align=right| 0 | align=right| 6 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=Family Party of Germany| | align=left | Family Party (Familie) | align=right| 12,758 | align=right| 1.0 | align=right| 0.2 | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=Other| | align=left | Others | align=right| 19,276 | align=right| 1.5 | align=right| | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- ! align=right colspan=2| Total ! align=right| 1,328,452 ! align=right| 100.0 ! align=right| ! align=right| 69 ! align=right| 26 ! align=right| |- ! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout ! align=right| ! align=right| 60.2 ! align=right| 13.4 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| |} Popular Vote #ddd 600px 410px CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 30.76 SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 30.41 B'90/GRÜNE Alliance '90/The Greens 13.17 FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) 8.20 PIRATEN Pirate Party Germany 8.20 SSW South Schleswig Voters' Association 4.59 DIE LINKE The Left (Germany) 2.25 Other #777777 2.41 Landtag seats #ddd 600px 410px CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 31.88 SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 31.88 B'90/GRÜNE Alliance '90/The Greens 14.49 FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) 8.70 PIRATEN Pirate Party Germany 8.70 SSW South Schleswig Voters' Association 4.35 Outcome The outgoing CDU–FDP government lost its majority, winning just 28 of the 35 seats needed for a majority. The SPD–Green bloc also fell short with 32 seats. CDU candidate Jost de Jager invited both the FDP and Greens to discuss a potential coalition, but neither party accepted. The SPD, Greens, and SSW began discussions for forming a government together. This was dubbed the "Danish traffic light", a play on the red-yellow-green "traffic light coalition", with the "yellow" FDP substituted for the "Danish" SSW. It would have a narrow, one-seat majority. This same arrangement had been attempted after the 2005 state election, but unexpectedly failed when one of the government members abstained. Pirate Party leader Torge Schmidt suggested that his party could lend their support to the Danish traffic light, though this never came to fruition. Coalition talks succeeded, and the Landtag voted to confirm Torsten Albig as the new Minister-President. The government received 37 votes, meaning that at least two opposition members voted in favour. References Category:2012 elections in Germany 2012 Category:May 2012 in Germany Category:21st century in Schleswig-Holstein