West German federal election, 1965

Germany

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The 5th German federal election, 1965, was conducted on 19 September 1965, to elect members to the Bundestag (lower house) of West Germany.

Issues and campaign

Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard was initially popular as the acclaimed "father" of West Germany's economic miracle of the 1950s and early 1960s. West Germany's economy still seemed solid in 1965, and thus not enough West German voters wanted to change the party of Federal Chancellor. To ensure his victory in this Bundestag election, Erhard promised to cut income tax and to increase social program spending (see, for example, Erling Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West, "Erhard's Victory and Fall," page 339; Dennis L. Bark and David R. Gress, A History of West Germany, volume 2: Democracy and Its Discontents, 1963–1988, London, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1989).

Results

	Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage (change)		Total Seats (change)		Seat percentage
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	12,387,562	38.0%	+2.2%	196	+4	39.5%
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	3,136,506	9.6%	+0.1%	49	-1	9.9%
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	3,096,739	9.5%	-3.3%	49	-18	9.9%
	Social Democratic Party	12,813,186	39.3%	+3.1%	202	+12	40.7%
	All Others	1,186,449	3.6%		0		0.0%
	Totals	32,620,442	100.0%		496	-3	100.0%

Seat results -- SPD in red, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor. In 1966, the FDP left the coalition over budget issues, and Erhard resigned. Kurt Georg Kiesinger (also CDU) formed a new grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD which lasted until the next election.

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos