1987 West German federal election

1987 West German federal election

25 January 1987 (1987-01-25)
All 497 seats in the Bundestag 249 seats needed for a majority
Registered	45,327,982 2.8%
Turnout	38,225,294 (84.3%) 4.8pp
First party Second party   Candidate Helmut Kohl Johannes Rau Party CDU/CSU SPD Last election 48.8%, 244 seats 38.2%, 193 seats Seats won 223 186 Seat change 21 7 Popular vote 16,761,572 14,025,763 Percentage 44.3% 37.0% Swing 4.5pp 1.2pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Martin Bangemann Petra Kelly Party FDP Greens Last election 6.9%, 34 seats 5.6%, 27 seats Seats won 46 42 Seat change 12 15 Popular vote 3,440,911 3,126,256 Percentage 9.1% 8.3% Swing 2.2pp 2.7pp
The left side shows the winning party vote in the constituencies, the right side shows the seats won by parties in each of the states. The pie chart over West Berlin shows the partisan composition of its legislature.
Government before election Second Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP Government after election Third Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 25 January 1987 to elect the members of the 11th Bundestag. This was the last federal election held in West Germany before German reunification.

Issues and campaign

The SPD nominated Johannes Rau, their vice chairman and the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, as their candidate for Chancellor. However, the SPD suffered from internal divisions and competition with the Greens. It was also unclear as to how they would form a government, as the Greens were divided over whether to take part in governments.

One of the major issues in this election was the environment, after the Chernobyl disaster and other accidents.

Results

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Elected	West Berlin	Total	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	14,025,763	37.04	107	14,787,953	39.18	79	186	7	193	–9
	Christian Democratic Union	13,045,745	34.45	50	14,168,527	37.54	124	174	11	185	–17
	Christian Social Union	3,715,827	9.81	4	3,859,244	10.23	45	49	0	49	–4
	Free Democratic Party	3,440,911	9.09	46	1,760,496	4.66	0	46	2	48	+13
	Alliance 90/The Greens	3,126,256	8.26	42	2,649,459	7.02	0	42	2	44	+16
	National Democratic Party	227,054	0.60	0	182,880	0.48	0	0	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	109,152	0.29	0	40,765	0.11	0	0	0	0	0
	The Women	62,904	0.17	0				0	0	0	New
	Bavaria Party	26,367	0.07	0	8,024	0.02	0	0	0	0	0
	Responsible Citizens	24,630	0.07	0	611	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Patriots for Germany	22,732	0.06	0	27,352	0.07	0	0	0	0	New
	Centre Party	19,035	0.05	0	4,020	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany	13,422	0.04	0	596	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Christian Bavarian People's Party	5,282	0.01	0	741	0.00	0	0	0	0	0
	All Social Insurants and Pensioners	1,834	0.00	0	3,151	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Free German Workers' Party	405	0.00	0	349	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Humanist Party				788	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Solidarity				754	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party				352	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Family Party				130	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Free Social Union				110	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				246,511	0.65	0	0	0	0	0
Total		37,867,319	100.00	249	37,742,813	100.00	248	497	22	519	–1
Valid votes		37,867,319	99.06		37,742,813	98.74
Invalid/blank votes		357,975	0.94		482,481	1.26
Total votes		38,225,294	100.00		38,225,294	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		45,327,982	84.33		45,327,982	84.33
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	CSU
Baden-Württemberg	37	36	1
Bavaria	45			45
Bremen	3		3
Hamburg	7	2	5
Hesse	22	14	8
Lower Saxony	31	18	13
North Rhine-Westphalia	71	33	38
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	11	5
Saarland	5	2	3
Schleswig-Holstein	11	8	3
Total	248	124	79	45

List seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	CDU	FDP	Grüne	CSU
Baden-Württemberg	37	21		9	7
Bavaria	42	24		7	7	4
Bremen	4		2	1	1
Hamburg	7	1	3	1	2
Hesse	23	10	5	4	4
Lower Saxony	32	13	8	6	5
North Rhine-Westphalia	72	24	25	12	11
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	7	4	3	2
Saarland	5	1	2	1	1
Schleswig-Holstein	11	6	1	2	2
Total	249	107	50	46	42	4

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. The Greens came into parliament for the second time and seemed to be established on federal level.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos